The Heart of a Hero
by rikustrength
Summary: I think Riku and Sora make a really cute couple... I just do. And thats why I wrote this fanfiction. I don't want to spoil anything, but just go ahead and read it. It has an entire story to it yaoi romance aside, so I hope you can enjoy it.
1. Showdown

Well, I have done an Inuyasha fanfiction (its a work in progress if I ever get around to adding to it), and after even starting it I have wanted to do a Kingdom Hearts fanfiction. Because, lets face it, Riku and Sora make a cute couple. They just do. Or I think they do, and enough people agree with me that its safe to say many people think so too (except for Michael P).

Don't get me wrong, this is not a perverted or dirty fanfiction. This is a serious story. If you don't like Sora x Riku (for whatever reason) I hope you can look past that. I WORKED TOO HARD FOR YOU TO JUST SHRUG IT OFF! ... Yea... Its quite long also. I wrote it like a real book. And... I'm not spoiling ANYTHING, but... Get tissues...

So here is my fanfiction, I hope you enjoy it. I put a lot of thought and effort into this so please comment? Thankyou for your time!

Also, for those of you reading this the first time, I have made edits to it so that it keeps true more to the Kingdom Hearts 2 story (this fanfic takes place AFTER Kingdom Hearts 2, supposudly). Also, I only edited SOME chapters, so some of them are clean of any spoilers! There ARE some minor spoilers though. They are mostly to do with Riku, but they are there and they are minor. If you can't handle it then wait a few months for Kingdom hearts 2, but I assure you all spoilers are very minor indeed (have I said that enough yet?). Please find a way to enjoy it either way.

Chapter One

Showdown

The End of the World. Many people wouldn't think that a world would or could be called something like that, but the planet belonging to the Heartless could have no more fitting of a name than that. All worlds are gathered there when they meet their demise at the hands of the Heartless, and it is in this place that Sora journeyed to defeat Ansem, the controller of the Heartless, once and for all. After making his way through one grueling chamber after another, the end of Sora's quest finally drew near its end...

Sora had been ready for this moment the instant he set foot off of Destiny Island (though it seemed like that had been an eternity ago). Before him stood Ansem, seeker of darkness. The only obstacle left in his path between him and the safe return of his friends and the permanent restoration of all the lost worlds.

"You're going down Ansem!", Sora shouted, trying to sound like his usual confident self.

"I think not", Ansem chuckled," your little escapades as the great hero end here and now." There seemed to be an aura about Ansem that wasn't there before. As if he had some ace up his sleeve he wasn't talking about.

Sora trembled as he searched for the strength he had summoned to him a thousand times and in a burst of light and magic the Keyblade appeared in his hands. Despite his growth the Keyblade fit as snugly into his hands as it had the first time he wielded it.

"The Keyblade alone cannot save you this time. I'll make sure of that!", Ansem sneered. And with that Ansem lunged at Sora striking him with a barrage of darkness pushing him back.

Sora countered immediately through pure reflex and struck Ansem hard on his left shoulder. Darkness oozed out of his wound, but Ansem didn't even flinch.

"You can not defeat me! I am darkness!", Ansem yelled gathering energy around him. "Your victories in the past were nothing but a fleeting illusion. Your demise will be swift and easy!"

"You're wrong! As long as I have the strength in my heart from my friends nothing can stop me!" Sora replied.

"Strength from your friends eh?" Ansem said, almost to himself, as he thought for a moment turning over ideas in his mind. "Heh, well lets see what strength you can borrow from friends that are a million worlds away!"

Ansem darted toward Sora with inhuman speed, far quicker than Sora was capable of dodging. Sora braced himself for the impact, and an earth shattering boom was heard all around. But... Sora felt nothing, and remained in place...

He opened his eyes and looked around, trying to see through the thick layer of dust that had been thrown up by the blast. As it started to settle, Sora was able to make out a figure that was definitely not Ansem. At first it was more than Sora could believe when he saw this familiar figure. But the image became clearer and clearer until he finally shouted, "RIKU!"

His childhood friend and rival looked back at him from the corner of his eye, "Didn't think I would let you have all the fun now did you?", Riku chuckled.

"I have been looking for you for so long! Where have you been all this time?", Sora managed.

"That isn't important", Riku said with a confident tone to his soft voice, "All we need to concentrate on now is beating Ansem--together."

Riku's gentle smile swept over Sora and he suddenly felt warm all over.

"What is this strange feeling?", Sora thought to himself, "I haven't ever felt like this around Riku before... I guess its been so long since I last saw him..."

But Sora's thoughts of Riku would have to wait, from the rubble emerged a seemingly unscathed (though thoroughly annoyed) Ansem. "I see you have mastered your hold over your darkness Riku...", Ansem grumbled through gritted teeth.

"Yea, at least I'm better with it than you anyway.", Riku replied almost cheerfully.

"Indeed", grunted Ansem, "Now allow me to wipe that smug grin off your face and show you how to use it correctly." And with that Ansem resumed his assault, conjuring an orb of darkness he proceeded to hurl at Riku with incredible force. The orb hit Riku and the entire area vibrated with energy as Ansem's blast radiated outward.

"Riku no!", cried Sora. But his concern was unnecessary. Once again, the smoke cleared, and Riku was no worse for the wear. Only now Riku was different...

His body glowed with darkness. It seemed to be completely immersed in his every pore. He slowly looked up at Ansem and smiled. His grin faltered as he began to concentrate more intensely, and his aura of darkness flickered with awesome power. Riku held his right hand out now, palm down. In a burst of light his weapon of great destruction was summoned. The Way to Dawn, Riku's Keyblade of incredible power.

Inside Riku's body, the light and the dark melded together perfectly to form the power of twilight. From this newfound power, Riku was able to change his Soul Eater into a Keyblade of immense strength. He was easily as formidable an opponent as Sora, though he had suffered through much to gain his strength. Satisfied, Riku withdrew his aura into his body adn looked to Ansem for his reaction.

Despite the amazing display of control over his darkness, as Sora gazed into Riku's deep teal eyes he didn't see the slightest trace of evil. Sora's heart almost skipped a beat as he realized: Riku was free!

As if he had read Sora's mind, Ansem snickered and said, "Riku's freedom goes only as far as I allow it. I could at any time I wish crush him in the palm of my hand like an ant."

"No! I don't believe you!", Sora yelled. "Riku is different now. You can't control him anymore!" Sora's hatred for Ansem flared. All the things he had made them endure, for what? But no more. This all ended right then and there. Sora would make sure of that no matter what.

As a reply, Ansem threw another dark orb towards the duo, this one much bigger than the last. Riku's eyes widened and he braced himself for the impact--that never came. Sora flung himself straight at Ansem's orb and in a flash of brilliant red light cast it back at Ansem.

Riku looked at his friend and stood in awe. Lightning curled around Sora, and even his costume had changed color from its deep black to a bright red. He even held a second Keyblade in his left hand--the Oathkeeper no less! None of this seemed to phase Sora as his strength ebbed back into its normal form though.

"H-how did you do that!", Riku asked half to himself.

"Oh that?", asked Sora. "That's one of my drives. I fused with Goofy just now, but he was so far away... I couldn't hold onto it for more than a few seconds. That was enough though, look.", Sora pointed into the sky where Ansem was... At nothing.

Riku looked up, but he didn't seem happy that Ansem was gone like Sora was. He furrowed his brow and said, "Ansem isn't gone, I can still smell him..."

"Impossible!", gasped Sora. "How did he--"

The ground underneath the two boys crumbled and upturned itself as Ansem broke his way through it grabbing Riku in his right arm while he was thrown off balance. "Silly little boy, you think your tricks can defeat me? Why--I doubt you can even defeat Riku here now that he has mastered control of his darkness." Ansem said.

"Those days are over! I'm never listening to you again, now let me go!", demanded Riku.

"Fine, you may go. But we will just see about you listening to me...", Ansem said as he waved his free hand. The instant he did Riku's face went expressionless... His eyes glazed over... His muscles relaxed... It was happening again, Riku was turning dark.

Ansem released Riku and said, "Now... Why don't we see just who is really stronger?"

Riku quietly turned to Sora and nodded, "Yes master." And he ran at Sora with speed Sora had never seen in Riku. Sora deflected Riku's Keyblade with his own easily enough, but that didn't change the scars that were opening up again inside him. He was loosing his best friend again. And it was all Ansem's fault.

"Riku please stop!", Sora begged as he continued to evade Riku's attacks. "I don't want it to be this way, and I know you don't too!"

With every evaded attack Sora became more and more exhausted. He couldn't keep this up forever. But weather any of Riku's hits connected or not didn't matter anymore. The fact that his assault continued only proved how lost to Ansem Riku was. It only proved that there would be no convincing Riku to stop, it was beyond either of their control now. Feeling weak, Sora knelt down as he blocked one of Riku's downward slashes, and held Riku at bay there.

"Please...", Sora sobbed with tears streaming down his face, "Please Ansem... Stop... I don't want to fight my friends anymore..."

"That is your fate Sora", Ansem replied without the slightest hint of emotion in his cold voice. "You must fight back or he will destroy you. Don't think for an instant anything of your friend is left to suddenly come to its senses and save the day. You must destroy him. And regardless of whoever wins, I will be here to finish the other off. Don't you see how pointless your fight is? You both die today. Be happy that I am graciously allowing you two to die together."

"No... Riku... Riku wouldn't do that! I know he doesn't want this! I know it!", Sora managed to shout with his remaining strength.

"You stupid little FOOL!", Ansem said glaring at him. "Why do you always place hope where it is futile? Look into Riku's face if you wish. You won't see the remotest edge of emotion."

Without even realizing it, Sora obeyed out of sheer exhaustion. When he saw Riku's face he gasped. His eyes were glazed over with darkness, but behind that he saw the friend he had grown up with over the years. And tears found their way to both the boy's eyes as they looked at each other. Riku's grip on his blade eased a little, but only a little. Sora took it as a sign. "I understand", Sora said.

He got up, knocking back Riku and slashed at his chest with his Keyblade tearing away the darkness around him. Riku stumbled and fell to the ground. He ignored his minor wound and stared at Sora.

Ansem glared at Riku with fury in his eyes. "You stupid boy!", Ansem spat. "You are useless to me. Once I am done with Sora you will be next." He turned to Sora and fixed his gaze on him. "Don't think you have won just because you don't have to fight Riku, I am, after all, much more powerful."

Sora glared at Ansem. His gaze pierced Ansem's seemingly invincible ego and he said, "I've had it. You put me through all this; you make me run around looking for something you always keep just out of my reach. You sit there with that smug look on your face - taunting me all the while. Well, I've really had it now." As he spoke, small orbs of light began to form around Sora and spiraled up around him. "I tried to beat you with Donald and Goofy at my side, and I failed to completely destroy you." , he continued. "Riku tried to beat you with King Mickey at his side, and he failed to completely destroy you too... I wonder... I wonder if its really possible..."

Regaining his composure, Ansem said, "You should know, as long as there is darkness in people's hearts I cannot be destroyed. The true essence of--"

"SHUT UP! I'm sick of listening to you preach about darkness!", Sora shouted suddenly. "Maybe I can't destroy you, maybe that's impossible. But I refuse to continue to live in a world you also exist in!" The light around Sora pulsed and grew in intensity.

Ansem began to sweat as he looked at Sora uneasily, he had never witnessed such an impressive display of power over light before... Never before had he doubted that darkness was truly and ultimately more powerful than light... Until now...

"My Keyblade wasn't made to destroy... Maybe that's why I can't kill you... ... It just locks things up, and unlocks them... Anything... ..." , Sora said as he gazed at his Keyblade in his hands. "If that's true, then I know what I have to do." His grip on his Keyblade tightened. "This is the end of you Ansem!"

Sora rushed towards Ansem, blinding light flashing from him reaching outwards as far as anyone could see. Concentrating with all his might, he thrust the light to the tip of his Keyblade, and it swirled and emanated from it with enormous force. He thrust his Keyblade straight forward at Ansem, and as he did a look of pure terror went through the dark overlord's body. Sora reached forward with all his strength, and tore away at Ansem's body. His Keyblade pointed directly at Ansem's heart, he shone his light with all the strength he had. Ansem's shirt ripped away, his flesh disintegrated.

Where Sora's Keyblade was held, a Keyhole appeared.

"Ansem, I seal you!" , Sora shouted with rage gleaming in his blue eyes. And with that, Sora thrust his Keyblade deep into the Keyhole on Ansem's chest. Ansem screamed in pure agony. With one swift movement, Sora turned his Keyblade, and all the light he had summoned poured into Ansem through the Keyhole.

As the last glimmer of light trickled inside of Ansem, he began to heave deep breaths. He looked down at Sora with terror filled eyes, Sora's stare was unrelenting. Then, slowly, Ansem began to change. It consumed him from his feet upward, an otherworldly light. At the touch of this light, Ansem's body turned to stone. He looked around in desperation, but he could do nothing to stop what had begun, all his strength was sapped. The light reached around him, leaving the newly formed Keyhole for last, and engulfed his back and shoulders. He wanted more than anything to send this stupid boy into an endless black void of darkness, but he could do absolutely nothing at all as the light covered his head and continued to move down back towards the Keyhole.

As it finished covering it, the light continued on to Sora's Keyblade. Binding Ansem was permanent, and with it being done, there was no need for a hero of light anymore. Sora accepted this without any hesitation. Though the light did not bind him there too, his days as the Keyblade master were over.

Sora slowly let go of the stone Keyblade, the chain stuck in place by its new form. He looked around for Riku, but before he could find him the ground began to shake. He could hear loud explosions in the distance. The world was breaking apart, and it was going to do so with him on it or not.

He tried to move around, but his feet suddenly froze in place, as if stuck to the ground by some unseen force. He began to sink through the ground, but instead of him falling into darkness like before, it seemed like the floor was simply swallowing him up itself. He struggled to get free, but his attempts were useless. His entire body fell through, and then he fell. Down down down...

Sora closed his eyes, but the sensation of falling stayed with him. He stayed this way for several minutes, when all of the sudden the falling sensation stopped, and Sora felt warm. He immediately opened his eyes wide to see...

He was standing back on his home island once again. The light shone brightly in his eyes as the feeling of deja vu swept over him. Though he and his friends tried so desperately to get off of this island, his entire journey had been one gigantic struggle to get back here. And he was home at last. He was finally home.

So far his return to Destiny Island resembled the dream he had shortly before his grand adventure began, he looked forward into the ocean in hopes Riku was there as he was in his dream. Sure enough, the silver haired boy was standing out in the ocean as before, knee deep in the water.

Breaking the similarity to his dream, Sora desperately called out, "Riku!"

Riku slowly turned back to Sora, and the two boys stared at each other a moment. "You took long enough. Lazy bum", Riku called out gently. There was no trace of evil in Riku's eyes like in Sora's dream. And no ominous wave billowed up behind him threatening to split them apart again. Regardless nothing would ever keep them apart now. Riku was free, and they were both together again.

Sora ran to Riku and embraced him deeply. He didn't care his clothes were soaking wet. He didn't care if it looked odd. He didn't care what anyone thought. He wasn't even thinking about any inexplicable feelings he had. He just held his best friend tightly and sobbed, "I'm so sorry it took this long... I'm so sorry for everything that happened... I'm so, so sorry..."

Riku slid his strong arms around Sora as a thin stream of tears began to roll down his cheeks as well, and he said, "None of that matters anymore... Just hold me now... Because we have the rest of our lives to feel sorry for that stuff… And right now... I just want you to hold me." 


	2. A New Quest

I am so happy for all the positive feedback I was given for my first chapter. I think that really gave me the boost I needed to start chapter two. So many ideas come to mind, and I really already had a good general idea of what I felt I wanted to happen.

As for what I wanted to happen well... I think I rambled enough for two chapters at the beginning of the last one, so why don't you just go ahead and find out?

Chapter Two

A New Quest

Sora finally opened his eyes after he had been lazily napping on the beach all afternoon. It was getting dark now, but Sora still had to shield his eyes from the remaining sunlight. He hadn't felt warmth from that sun in such a long time it felt like, yet it had been a week now since he and Riku had returned safely to their island.

Sora looked over at Riku, who hadn't yet awoke (who was the lazy one now?). Sora was so happy to see Riku back to normal... He was so happy to see Riku back home... He was so happy to see Riku safe... That's why he got so emotional... ... Or that's what he had been saying to himself for the past week anyway.

Neither of them talked about that anymore, and Riku had seemed kind of distant, but they still shared the bond only best friends can have. And no amount of strange feelings either of them had could take away from the rush of their sparring or the lazy contentment of their just being together again.

But still... Sora could not shake this unnerving feeling deep in the pit of his stomach...

"Are you just going to stare at me all day now?" , Riku asked without opening his eyes.

"Y-you're awake?" , asked Sora (only a little startled).

"Since about the time you started oggling me." , replied Riku getting up, wiping the sand off his clothes.

"I wasn't-- " , Sora started.

"I know I know." , said Riku, smiling at the younger boy.

Sora heaved a deep sigh. "... ... ... ... It feels like its been so long... Do you think we will ever see any of the others again?" , said Sora uneasily.

"Uhm... I was sparring with them earlier today Sora...", said Riku.

"No, I mean the people I met in the other worlds... Like Leon and Yuffie. I wonder what happened to all of them..." , said Sora, not without a tone of sadness.

"Well... You told me the Heartless' creation meant that all the invisible walls around the worlds were destroyed. The one thing keeping them separate was gone, until you sealed them away. So... I guess they are all back on their own world now..." , Riku suggested, trying to ease Sora's sadness. Since they had gotten back, Riku had felt strangely overprotective of Sora, almost like a big brother would, but different...

"Yea...", said Sora as he pulled his knees close to his body. "I just hope they are ok... And I wish we could see them again..."

Riku started to say something, but a small light caught his eye before he could. Pointing to the sky, Riku said, "Well why don't you wish on that?"

Sora looked up, and saw a shooting star in the sky. Before, this might have meant the destruction of another world at the hands of a heartless. But with them having presumably been sealed away along with Ansem, it was most likely just what it appeared to be... An ordinary shooting star.

"Ok then", Sora chuckled. "I wish that I could see all my friends from other worlds again!" Sora smiled and looked over at Riku. He hadn't had his old friend there to cheer him up in such a long time. He missed the feeling badly. And he felt oddly incomplete without Riku even with him just sitting right there. As if that wasn't enough for some reason.

But Riku's quiet smile faded suddenly as his eyes went back to the sky. Sora followed Riku's eyes questioningly, and his mouth dropped open. For good reason too. The shooting star was moving straight towards them.

"You have got to be kidding me? A million miles of ocean and it has to hit the one tiny speck of land?" , Riku exclaimed.

"Is that an engine sound?" , said Sora thinking aloud.

Sure enough, Sora's ears didn't deceive him. As the "shooting star" got closer, the boys could make out that it wasn't a shooting star at all, but a gummy ship (a large one at that). As it got closer it began to slow down, and Sora could make out the royal insignia of The King on the side of it.

Once it was overhead, it came to a complete halt and deployed its landing gear. Sora and Riku backed away as sand was upturned everywhere while it descended. It finally stopped moving and the din of its engines started to weaken. Within only moments of it's landing, a set of stairs lowered from the front of the ship. And Sora saw a very familiar pair of boots come down the steps.

"Leon?" , yelled Sora with as much enthusiasm as imaginable . "How did you get here! What happened before? Where are the others? What about -- "

"Quiet" , said Leon in his cool deep voice. "I'll explain everything."

"As if you know!" , chimed Yuffie as she exited the gummy ship behind Leon.

"You guys..." , Sora said, tears beginning to well up in his eyes. "You're back... I didn't think I would see any of you again..."

"Well you're in for a little reunion then I guess..." , Leon said brushing his soft brown hair from his eyes.

Sora looked back behind him as more figures emerged from the gummy ship. First Cid (who had been piloting the ship), with a mischievous grin on his face. Followed by Cloud with Aerieth cheerfully walking alongside him holding his hand. A smaller figure followed them. Clothed in crimson, The King, Mickey, appeared.

"I think I can clear up some of your questions Sora" , said Mickey with his usual big smile on his face.

For a person of such high royalty he seemed to take everything so lightly. But Sora and Riku both knew there was no one you could count on more to help you out in a pinch. And King Mickey was just the person to rely on when things got rough.

"Well... What happened with the walls? I thought once the Heartless were destroyed the walls would reappear!" , said Sora.

"They will, if and when the Heartless are destroyed." , replied Cloud coldly. "However, you did not destroy them. You bound Ansem away. And its not that we aren't all completely thrilled to be rid of him, but we still have problems."

"I'm afraid he's right Sora..." , Aerieth added sadly.

"Huh? What do you mean?" , asked Sora.

"He means," , King Mickey began, "that it would seem people other than Ansem are capable of controlling the Heartless... Ansem's band of Unknown, The Organization, are still at large... Even without their leader, their priorities don't seem to have changed, and their progress hasn't come to a halt like we had hoped it would with Ansem's end."

"The Heartless aren't capable of devouring entire worlds anymore... For now." , continued Leon. "But I'm sure its only a matter of time. And we need as much help as we can get to take them out before that happens."

"Yea! Uhyuck!" , came a comical voice from inside the gummy ship.

"And we wouldn't want anyone besides you to help us!" , added a voice with deep seeded nasal issues.

Two heads poked out of the gummy ship with huge smiles plastered to their wacky faces.

Donald and Goofy.

As they started to make their way out of the ship, Goofy (with all the coordination of a blind walrus) tripped over his own feet causing the two to come tumbling down in front of Sora in a heap of tangled arms and legs.

Sora promptly helped them both up and hugged them tightly saying, "You guys too? I thought I would--".

"Yea yea we know, 'never see us again.' -- now let go already!" , Donald squawked in an agitated tone.

"You know we wouldn't just let you have all the fun now Sora." , Goofy said, as usual managing to talk in every octave his voice was capable of reaching.

"Enough." , came Leon's gruff voice from behind Sora. "There will be time for this later. We have to nip this in the bud before things get any worse than they already are. We don't need anyone else to surface up from The Organization to replace Ansem."

"Right..." , Sora replied as he regained his composure.

"I'm going too." , said Riku, who had until now remained silent. "I'm not going to let you go off and get yourself hurt or lost or a combination of the two. Especially since you lost your Keyblade."

"Now, you are more than welcome to come Riku, we can always use your help." , said King Mickey. "But don't be so concerned for Sora's safety. Just because his Keyblade is stuck inside Ansem doesn't mean he can't still fight. The light in his heart is his real weapon, and he can't ever lose that."

"... ... You're probably right. But I want to make sure..." , Riku said as he walked over to Sora and put his hand on the younger boy's shoulder. "I refuse to lose Sora again."

Sora blushed lightly at the touch of Riku's hand.

"The light in my heart..." , Sora said to himself as he looked at his open palm, unable to feel any difference inside himself. "If I feel the same does that mean my light is still inside me..." , he continued.

"Of course it does!" , said King Mickey hopefully.

"You're going to leave again aren't you?" , came a small voice from the other end of the beach. Everyone looked over to see Selphie standing pigeon-toed in the sand.

Sora walked over to her and said, "Yea... I'm really sorry to be going off all quick like this. Tell everyone else I'm sorry too ok? And we will be back... ... ...". He leaned in closer, and, in a whisper, said, "Tell Kairi not to worry too will you?"

"OK! Just be sure to bring me back a souvenir!" , Selphie replied in her cheerful voice. "Hehe, Kairi's gonna be reeeeeal mad at you Sora! -- Huh..." Her voice trailed off as she noticed Leon behind Sora.

The Gunblade wielder walked over to the two and a perplexed look crossed his face as well. "You look familiar..." , he said, furrowing his brow and rubbing his forehead as he often did when he was in deep thought.

"Yea, you do too... Strange!" , she replied as if the familiar sensation they had was a good thing.

"Don't we have someplace to go?" , Cid inquired as he made his way back to the ship.

"Right, time to go." , Cloud said as he and Aerieth (hands still intertwined) made their way inside the ship.

As everyone else started back to the ship, Riku grabbed a hold of Sora's shoulder again and said, "You know Sora, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back. Last time we only barely managed to escape, but this time might be for good. You're ok with that?"

Sora smiled and said, "If it means keeping my friends safe... Anything is worth it." Sora looked at Riku as if it applied especially to him.

"Right then. Lets not keep everyone waiting!" , Riku said as he broke into a sprint towards the gummy ship.

"H-hey wait up!" , Sora said running after him. Wondering why he had this funny feeling talking to Riku just now.

"You better keep them safe! Or else I'll come after you!" , Selphie shouted to Leon.

"I'll do what I can." , came Leon's voice from the gummy ship.

"Good luck!" , Selphie yelled as the gummy ship took off and shot out into the sunset, leaving a small vapor trail behind it. Selphie looked off into the distance at the ship as it became a mere pin-prick in the sky and she wondered when she would see her friends again. "You better bring me back something good..." , she said grinning ear to ear.

Meanwhile, deep in the confines of Hollow Bastion...

"The boy has left Destiny Island master, just like you predicted." , an empty voice coming from a cloaked Unknown said.

"Good..." , a voice, seemingly coming from thin air, replied slowly. "Dispatch a small wave of Heartless to take the island back. And keep a surveillance on Sora and his friends at all times."

The Unknown replied, "Consider it done master..." And began to walk away.

The Unknown paused as the voice added, "And one other thing... ... The Dark one is still with him is he not?"

"... Yes... He managed to escape from The End of the World with Sora..." , said The Unknown.

"And his tie to us?" , inquired the voice further.

"... No change sir... It would appear Ansem's binding had no affect on it as we expected." , The Unknown concluded after a moment's deliberation.

The voice said, "Good... ... Very good... He will prove very useful to our plans."

"... ... ... If I may be so bold to ask..." , began The Unknown.

"You may" , answered the voice.

"What if Ansem was correct about what he saw in their hearts?" , asked The Unknown.

"Then any unnatural feelings they have that extend beyond a normal friendship will be their undoing." , said the voice coldly.

And that is how Sora's greatest adventure began... 


	3. Fate Sealed

I really ended the last chapter interestingly enough huh? Well, it probably left a few questions to be answered... How will Sora fight without his Keyblade? What worlds will they go to? What is this unseen voice? What are the plans of the Organization? And, possibly most importantly, what am I going to do as far as Riku and Sora's feelings for one another are concerned?

These are all things I want to answer, but not all of them will become apparent just yet. Sit tight though, there is still a lot more to come!

Chapter Three

Fate Sealed

The Gummy ship sailed through space silently, the only remotely audible noise being the soft hum of the engines. Inside, all its passengers lay asleep in cots spread across the floor. All of them but one brown haired boy...

Tonight was not the only night Sora had been unable to find sleep, his last few nights on Destiny Island had offered little more than sleepless nights and uneventful days. Except when he was around Riku... Sora shifted around uncomfortably in his cot, trying to forget about all the confusing feelings he had. He could see Riku now, laying only a few feet away in his cot.

He could see the silver haired boy's chest rise and fall as he was in deep sleep. He could see all the better features of his face illuminated by the stars shining through the glass windows. How Sora longed so deeply to get up and go sleep in the same cot as Riku, just to feel the warmth of the older boy's body close to his own...

Sora subconsciously rolled over in bed again, this time so he would not face Riku. Perhaps that would help him get to sleep he thought... And it did, after some time of tossing and turning around frustratingly.

The next morning, Sora did not wake up at the same time as everyone else. With his lack of real sleep the last few nights, he was exhausted. Though he had been able to get by fine during the day for some time, even he had to get some rest eventually... Sora only woke up at last when Aerith's soft voice spoke into his ear...

"Come on Sora", she said sweetly. "You really need to get up now. Everyone else is about ready to go."

"Dwa?", Sora managed as he wiped the sleep from his eyes.

Aerith sighed. "You really are hopeless", she said with a smile on her face.

"Ehehe... Sorry, what's going on now?", Sora asked as his trademark grin spread across his face ear to ear. Something he had not done in a while it seemed.

Riku poked his head through the exit from outside the ship. "I'll explain as we go, now just come on lazy bum", he said.

Sora got out of bed, stretching to get all the kinks out of his back. Guess that's what he got for sleeping on the floor. Though he supposed no one else was really better off.

He made his way outside the Gummy ship, wondering what world they had stopped on, and why? They couldn't have gotten all the way to Hollow Bastion, where they assumed The Organization was, just yet... As he set foot on the soft grass around him, he realized he was very far away from Hollow Bastion.

"Why are we in Deep Jungle?", Sora inquired as he made his way over to catch up to Riku.

Without looking behind him, Riku replied, "The Heartless are back here, and there seems to be a lot of unusual activity going on with them. That's what King Mickey says anyway. So we stopped here to check it out. Everyone else broke off into separate groups, I'm stuck with you." As he said that a sly grin broke off across his face, Sora only caught a hint of it having just caught up with him.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?", Sora asked also smiling, though only slightly.

In reply, Riku just broadened his grin as the two entered the dense forest. The boys were both oblivious to what exactly they were getting themselves into. By entering the forest, and by being together when they did...

Sora looked around uneasily as they made their way deeper and deeper into the lush greenery. He hoped dearly he would not have to face off against any powerful Heartless, he doubted greatly his capability of being able to handle them without his Keyblade.

He remembered clearly, before the group had gone to sleep the night before, his conversation with King Mickey. He had asked how he was supposed to fight. King Mickey had told him exactly what he said on Destiny Island, "Just fight with the light in your heart Sora. You still have that, and it is more powerful than any Keyblade could ever be."

The meaning of all this still eluded Sora, but he trusted The King with his life. He knew that if King Mickey said he could do something, that he could place all his trust into the belief that he was entirely capable of it.

As if in response to any small amount of uncertainty in Sora, a lone Powerwild suddenly appeared in front of him. Riku didn't seem to notice, he had been walking several paces ahead of the younger boy.

Sora was familiar with this type of Heartless; Powerwilds were very common in Deep Jungle. They were small, blue, monkey-like Heartless. Their speed and ferocity in battle was always an annoyance Sora had to deal with on his visits to this world. Their ability to evade attacks and their capability of dishing out powerful attacks of their own didn't help matters much.

"Riku...", Sora said with an unnerved look on his face.

But Riku had already stopped by then. And he was in the motion of turning around, Keyblade in hand, by the time Sora finished saying his name. An instant later the Heartless was sliced in two, and it faded away in a small burst of darkness. Immediately ten more Heartless appeared to take its place, and they quickly had the two boys surrounded.

"You ready Sora?", Riku said taking a tight grip on his sword.

"Always", Sora replied tonelessly, having erased and shred of doubt in himself from his mind. As if to mirror the intensity and determination inside him, flames began to dance around his hands.

The two stood there a moment, waiting. But the Heartless needed no invitation, and they attacked without hesitation... Or any remote knowledge of what they were up against. Fitting that they couldn't feel emotions such as fear, having no heart had that affect. If they could though, they would know to be terrified.

Within the first few seconds of battle, Riku rushed forward blade in hand. Slicing through the three Heartless closest to him in one deft blow. Sora noticed how graceful Riku moved even in the heat of battle. Riku was without a doubt unmatched in combat, except of course by Sora himself.

For once, Sora was able to shake these thoughts off of himself, if only temporarily. Maybe it was the thrill of being in heated battle with the Heartless again. Whatever it was, Sora knew he couldn't waste any time.

"FIRAGA", Sora shouted loudly with his hands outstretched towards a nearby Heartless. The instant the word left his mouth, the flames around his hands formed into one solid molten mass and shot towards its target with impressive speed and force. The Powerwild reeled back in pain. Despite the usually high agility Powerwilds posses, it was incapable of reacting to the two following blasts of fire Sora sent after it immediately. It burst into flame and disappeared in a flash.

Sora noticed two Bouncywild Heartless appear in front of him. These were similar to Powerwilds Sora remembered. Though their attacks were far less powerful, and they rarely attacked directly. What made them so difficult to defeat was simply their speed. They could run and jump to get very far out of the way very quickly, and this proved to make things very difficult for Sora and crew more often than not.

Sora summoned up the power of icy destruction within him. "BLIZZAGA", he yelled. Following it shards of ice sprung from out of no where around him and sliced through the air towards the two Bouncywilds. The two Heartless jumped out of the way effortlessly and loaded their slingshots.

As they barraged Sora with small rocks, the boy tried to roll out of the way. He managed to get the brunt of only a few of their attacks, and followed up with a mighty Thundaga spell. Loud thunder crackled as thick coils of electricity pulsed towards the ground out of the sky. Sora managed to hit one of the Bouncywilds, putting it out of commission permanently. The other one had dodged out of the way once again, just in time.

Sora began to feel fatigue, he couldn't keep casting spells much longer, it wore him down too much. Still, he once again reached for the power of magic inside him to throw another Firaga blast at the Heartless. As it began to form at his fingertips, his stomach suddenly lurched and he began to lose his footing. Before he could cast his spell Sora fell to his knees and breathed deeply.

Seeing his friend collapse, Riku assumed he had been injured. He looked over at the Bouncywild that was about to attack Sora. With speed and agility not capable of any normal human, he dashed forward and sliced through the Heartless deeply before it even saw him coming.

All the Heartless seemed to have been defeated in that area, for now... Riku went over to Sora, who had recovered a bit since the encounter.

"Are you ok? What happened back there?", he asked. Sora noticed his voice seemed full of concern. This had a strange affect on the brown haired boy somehow.

"I-I'm fine...", Sora replied. I just felt a little light-headed is all; I guess I shouldn't have cast so many spells..."

"Be careful will you?", Riku said as he drew an Ether out of his pocket to restore some of Sora's lost MP. "You can't just go off and get hurt ok?"

"Right...", Sora said. Don't worry so much about me, I'm fine really. And besides, there will be a lot stronger opponents I have to beat other than just a few of these small Heartless. So--"

Riku cut him off, "And you barely managed with those. Just be careful? That's all I'm asking. I don't want anything to happen to you. I don't want to lose you again..."

Sora was touched by Riku's concern. "Lose me? I'm the one that lost you last time", Sora said with the hint of a smile. "So don't YOU go off and get hurt either ok?"

"Yea...", Riku said as the two continued onward.

They were getting near the Keyhole of this world Sora suddenly realized. Maybe the answers they were looking for would be there... Why were the Heartless unusually active on a world with a sealed Keyhole? What were they trying to accomplish? And who was behind it all? And how would he do anything to stop them? Sora had so many questions and so few answers, but he had no choice now. He couldn't turn back; the only way he was going to figure any of this out was to keep moving.

The boys had to deal with more and more Heartless the closer they got to the Keyhole. Sora managed fairly well for the most part, at least remaining conscious... After a while the two finally arrived at the familiar water falls that were home to the Keyhole of Deep Jungle.

"Riku, lets go behind those waterfalls? I need to see something", Sora said more as a statement than a question.

"Ok... If you really need to that is--I... I don't really like how this place 'feels', its just not... Right...", Riku replied slowly.

Sora looked over at his long time friend, a little surprised at his response, "What's gotten into you? Since when do you get scared over some 'bad feeling'?"

"I didn't say I was scared", Riku said. "I said I didn't like how this place feels. But if you need to see something back there then c'mon. The sooner we can get out of here the better..."

Sora led the way, though it wasn't very hard to see where to go. The two climbed their way up the rock face behind the waterfall. A giant rock wall shielded them from the tons of water pouring down just behind them. The sound of all the water alone was deafening, but Sora knew the Keyhole was far enough away that it wouldn't bother either of them too much by the time they got there.

The din of the waterfall began to fade slightly as they neared their destination. "We are going towards the Keyhole aren't we...", Riku said. He seemed to know, though he had never even been to this world before.

"Yea, you just guess?", Sora asked.

"... I just felt it...", Riku said almost too softly for Sora to hear.

Sora wanted to ask him what he meant, but they had finally arrived at the Keyhole chamber. And something was definitely amiss...

Sora looked around the chamber they were in; it was mostly the same as before. Moss grew on the stone walls around them, and they could faintly hear the sound of water flowing even from this distance. These were all things Sora barely noticed though... Because in the center of the room, he saw something that defied all logic. The Keyhole of Deep Jungle, sitting there in the open like nobody's business.

"But that's impossible!", exclaimed Sora. "I locked this world! It shouldn't come undone, even if I bound Ansem to my Keyblade!"

"This isn't right... ... I really don't like this...", Riku said. He looked around the room, as if he was trying to see something he could only hear... Or smell. "C'mon Sora, time to get out of here."

"We can't just leave it! What if the Heartless find it? We've gotta do something", Sora said, though he wasn't sure what they could do.

"Then I'll lock it, but the second I do we need to--", Riku's words were cut off by a sound just then. An unnatural, earsplitting crash. The sound of stone being torn to pieces and turned to rubble.

An eerie silence filled the air for a few moments afterwards, the only thing they could hear was the previous crash echoing throughout the stone caves. Sora noticed Riku already stood prepared for whatever was tearing its way toward them. He dearly hoped he would be ready too.

In an instant the stone entryway the two boys had come into the chamber through was shredded to bits like paper. The same sound they had heard before followed it immediately, amplified by what seemed to be thousand times more. As the dust settled the two boys could see... Nothing.

Riku looked towards the entrance with an unmoving gaze, though still not entirely sure what to expect. But Sora knew. Sora knew all too well what kind of thing acts like that.

Sora could see the faint outline of the giant lizard creature in front of him, only because he knew what to look for. The Stealth Sneak, as it was called, was a large Heartless that resembled that of an iguana. It was capable of shooting deadly beams from its eyes and was obviously very powerful with its large size. And easily most deadly of all was its ability to render itself almost completely invisible.

Sora was hoping he could have gone through his entire visit to Deep Jungle without encountering one of these. Though he spoke confidently, he wasn't entirely convinced he could really handle something this big.

Before Sora could warn Riku about just what they were up against, the Stealth Sneak leapt towards the boys. It landed hard right next to Riku and swept its tail knocking the boy off his balance.

"Riku its invis--", the Stealth Sneak cut Sora off by swiping at him and hitting him hard on his left shoulder.

Riku, having gotten up more or less the instant he was knocked down, had seen enough. He slashed at the Heartless and cut a deep gash in its side. The Stealth Sneak jumped away planning its next attack.

"How did you know where it was?", Sora asked.

"I could smell it", Riku replied.

Sora was glad he could rely more on Riku to help him defeat this Heartless, but his relief was short lived. The Stealth Sneak was not going down without a fight, and it had every intent to do whatever possible to kill them both.

The Heartless leapt at the two once again, but this time they were ready. Sora was able to cast a few spells on the Heartless while Riku ripped gash after gash into it.

Knowing it would lose at this rate the Stealth Sneak backed off once again. Having lost most of its strength it began to become more visible, its green skin showing up brightly against the dark stone walls. And then it did something that made the blood in Sora's veins freeze.

The Stealth Sneak rose onto its back legs and let out a horrible crooning sound. It seemed to echo forever, but the sound wasn't so much what bothered Sora as much as what he deeply hoped it didn't mean. As if responding to Sora's very thoughts, three more Stealth Sneak appeared around the boys as the first one dropped back onto all fours and readied itself to attack anew.

Sora knew he was in over his head this time. He had faced many more powerful opponents than this and come out the winner easily, but he wasn't capable of that anymore. And he wasn't sure if Riku could either; not while having to keep himself AND Sora safe the whole time.

It took the Heartless a second to be on the offense. Sora rolled out of the way best he could, but still took a deep blow to his gut. Riku attacked the already injured Stealth Sneak in an attempt to get it out of the way to better his odds. But before he could do any real damage one of the other Stealth Sneaks attacked him. He took a blow to his side and was thrown across the room, though the injury was more superficial than anything else.

Riku glanced over to see Sora trying to defend himself from one of the Stealth Sneaks and he began to run over to the younger boy to help him. But before he could even get close another of the large Heartless leapt in front of him. With a surge of adrenaline, Riku jumped into the air and sliced downward into the Heartless. But despite his efforts the Heartless shrugged his blow off and sent him flying once again.

By chance Riku landed near Sora, who had not been fairing much better than him. Sora ran over to his fallen friend and began to help him up.

"I-I'm fine", Riku spattered weakly as he got up awkwardly. He took the second fall a lot worse than the first one, and now Sora noticed something was wrong with his right leg.

When you believe you are about to die, a whole array of options in life present themselves to you that you would not have previously seen. For some, these things are a new surge of strength, a last ditch effort to continue living. For others, it's a list of things you regret having done, or perhaps things you haven't done.

All thoughts left Sora then. He was void of reason, void of rationality. All he had was a torrent of raw emotion. Nothing mattered anymore, not if he and Riku were both about to die. So he barely realized what he was about to do. He could only just feel him throw himself against Riku. He could only remotely feel the tears streaming from his eyes. And he could hardly hear the words slip from his mouth...

"I love you..."

And in an instant everything was changed. In an instant all the Heartless were upon them, teeth barred. In an instant the light spiraled up from around Sora, pushing back the darkness. In an instant the Heartless and even the stone walls were torn asunder. In an instant the light spread across the forest, moving in waves across the world reaching for the horizon. In an instant everything was changed. And there would be no going back now.

Sora slowly pried his eyes open, unaware of what had just happened. Riku looked around cautiously, fearing more Heartless would appear. But none did.

Riku stepped away from Sora to get a better view of things. Sora was relieved when Riku didn't say anything; Riku was probably just as embarrassed as he was. Or maybe he hadn't heard what Sora said at all. Sora would have given anything to take those words back. He wasn't sure Riku would believe them if he had actually heard, and Sora wasn't sure if he believed them himself anyway.

"Sora...", Riku's voice trailed off as he bent down on the ground a few steps away. "What did you do?"

"I dunno, I just", but Sora stopped short. Riku got up and turned around to face Sora.

"What did you do...", Riku said emotionlessly. He held his right hand towards Sora. Sora's eyes widened as he saw what it was Riku had picked up.

In Riku's hand, glistening in the light that now poured down freely through the opened canopy, was a Keyblade identical to Sora's.

It was late in the day by then. And the two boys stood there for a long time in the fading light. They didn't say a word, what could they possibly say after what had happened? They just waited...

Some time later, King Mickey and everyone else found them. They had all been able to track the two boys down from having been at the center of the explosion of light. The human interaction pulled Riku and Sora back to reality, and they slowly tried to explain what happened--conveniently omitting a few details.

Sora held this new Keyblade in his hands, but he and Riku were both too shaken to wield their weapons. While Mickey sealed the reopened Keyhole, Sora looked at this new Keyblade of his. It looked and felt just like his old one, but something about it was definitely different. It seemed as though it was made of some different material. Though it didn't seem particularly stronger or weaker.

Without any reason to stay where they were to try and figure out all that had happened, everyone made their way back to the Gummy ship. While everyone else discussed various possibilities and theories, Riku and Sora remained quiet. The two barely acknowledged the presence of everyone else as they neared the ship. Just as they both thought they might be able to make it all the way back without having to confront each other, they glanced at one another. For one fleeting moment, their eyes met.

Sora gazed at Riku, almost as if he were sorry for having committed some deep sin. And Riku stared back at him with the same blank face he had worn all the way there. Everyone else climbed into the Gummy ship; just as Sora was about to he noticed Riku had raised his hand to him. A feint gesture, but Sora knew he meant for him to stay behind.

The moon was in the sky now, and Sora felt an awkward sensation as he walked over to Riku. The older boy's expression seemed to have softened a bit. He now looked more concerned than anything else.

"About before", Sora started. "You should know, I... I didn't..."

"Mean for it to sound that way", Riku finished for him.

"Huh? Uhm... Yea, that sounds about right", Sora said. Though he knew that was a lie.

"Were like... Brothers. That's what you meant", Riku said as though he knew what Sora meant better than Sora himself. He may as well have at that point.

"C'mon you two, The King doesn't want us to stay here overnight", came Yuffie's radiant voice from the ship. "And no matter how many times I ask him he won't let us take off without you two either."

With nothing left to say, Sora walked over to the ship taking up a brisk pace so he wouldn't have to be alone with Riku any longer than he needed to.

Riku watched as Sora climbed up into the Gummy ship. The moonlight shone across the smaller boy's body as if it were some otherworldly light, and Riku sighed deeply. "What am I thinking...", he mused with himself. "We could never be together..." And he trudged along quietly towards the ship. 


	4. Heroes Clash

Have fun reading this, I have fun writing it.

P.S. Hope that wasn't too long winded for you. P

Chapter Four

Heroes Clash

The sun beat down on Sora as he stared across the Coliseum at his opponent. The light breeze was hardly refreashing in this kind of intense heat, but he didn't let it get to him. Sora gripped his Keyblade tightly and charged forward.

As he ran across the marble tiles he stared at King Mickey, his expression never changing. He had his game face on. Normally he would never fight one of his friends, but it was decided he should test his new Keyblade in a friendlier environment before he used it in a real fight. It didn't bother him so much fighting King Mickey; he knew The King could handle himself.

He was only a few yards away now, and he drew his Keyblade upward to slash from below in an attempt to catch The King off his guard. But there are a good many reasons King Mickey is the king. Aside from his kind personality, unmatched courage, and strong sense of justice, he was also next to invincible in combat.

He raised his Keyblade to meet Sora's a split-second before it would have hit him, and matched the boy's blow effortlessly. He wasn't thrilled to be matching blades Sora, but it was all for the sake of testing Sora's Keyblade. And The King had his own reasons as well. It was all for the greater good.

The King Twisted his Keyblade around in a semicircle; knocking Sora's blade away. In an instant Sora had already retaliated, swinging his Keyblade towards King Mickey once again. Though this time from the side.

King Mickey jumped into the air and landed at the opposite end of the Coliseum, and he and Sora both closed the distance between each other in a classic sword-fight clash. The King pushed Sora back a few inches, but Sora was able to hold his ground. He strained his entire body now, just trying to keep The King at bay. And, to no one's surprise, Sora's Keyblade proved capable of as much strain as he himself.

The King held his Keyblade with only one hand, but seemed to withstand all of Sora's efforts with little strain. He pushed Sora back and said, "I think that's enough Sora, it looks like your new Keyblade is easily on par with your old one."

Sora wiped the perspiration from his brow and said, "Yea, I bet it'll hold up just fine." He grinned broadly as he withdrew his Keyblade.

Leon and Yuffie approached from the stands. Their detour to the Olympus Coliseum, though not a voyage made from necessity, left few people with nothing to do. With many people wanting to train and others seeking information only Leon and Yuffie were left to observe Sora's test run of his new Keyblade. Although it was decided that having some people to view the fight was important as well anyway.

"It's good to see you aren't rusty at least", Leon said gruffly.

Yuffie sighed at Leon's heart-felt words of encouragement and said, "What he MEANS is good job."

"Whatever", the Gunblade wielder said shrugging off Yuffie's words.

"He's just sore cuz he wanted to fight you again", Yuffie said, hitting the nail right on the head.

Leon flinched at this perfect insight into his character, something he had never much been a fan of.

"You wouldn't stand a chance against him", came a voice from the other end of the stadium. Everyone turned to see Cloud approaching them. He seemed his usual quiet, detached self. Upon landing on this world, Cloud had gone off on his own. He was supposed to find out any information he could about the current situation with the Heartless, but it was believed he had some of his own business to attend to here as well.

"And you would? I seem to recall us both having lost to him before", said Leon.

"Hardly, but at least my Buster Sword would stand up to him. That's more than I can say for that butter knife of yours there", Cloud said disregarding Leon.

"Now girls don't fight... At least not each other anyway", Yuffie said. For once breaking up the chaos instead of wreaking it.

"You could find a more productive outlet for your energy I'm sure", offered King Mickey. "Now anyway Cloud, did you find anything out about the Heartless?"

"Nothing to report", Cloud replied. "No one on this world has noticed anything. Except the Keyhole reopening. No one saw it happen, one day it was sealed the way Sora left it, and then the next day it was open again."

"When did it reopen?" Sora asked, a tinge of urgency in his voice. Though he had himself sealed the Keyhole when they first got to Olympus, he was still shaken by the fact that all his hard work sealing the worlds seemed to be unraveling at the seams.

"From what I heard it was about the time we set off from Destiny Island... Though I can't be entirely sure..." Cloud said.

"This isn't good..." King Mickey said. "None of this makes any sense at all. Nothing should be able to UN-seal something The Keyblade locked..."

"Well sitting around here won't solve anything; the answers we need are most likely at Hollow Bastion. We need to stop wasting time and get to the bottom of this before it's too late", Leon said.

"Leon... You have to understand. If the world's Keyholes are reopening then it is vital that they be sealed once again", The King explained. "The lives of all the inhabitants of the worlds are in jeopardy if we neglect them. We have to--"

"No!" snapped Leon. "We have to worry about the greater evil; we have to tackle the source. If whatever unlocked all the worlds is allowed to remain at large then it could easily unlock them all again by the time we get to it, and what good will that do us? What good will that do anyone? We are wasting time doing nothing when we should be working to get to the bottom of this."

"That's not true!" said Sora. "It all makes a difference. We can't just leave the Heartless unchecked on all these worlds!"

The King could see Leon was still unconvinced. "You know he is right", King Mickey said. "The damage the Heartless would do to all the worlds if they are just allowed to continue like this would be catastrophic. It's our responsibility to see to it all the worlds that come unlocked be locked again."

"Whatever", Leon said as he began to walk away. "Maybe it's YOUR responsibility, but my responsibility is restoring my own world."

Yuffie was about to start after him, but The King caught her arm. "Let him go Yuffie", he said. "He just needs some time. It's alright."

"No it isn't", came Cloud's stern voice. And he proceeded to go after Leon despite The King's protest.

Sora sighed deeply and said, "Things are really starting to fall apart..."

"It'll be okay Sora", The King reassured him. "Have faith."

The three began to head for the Lobby. As they passed through the doorway Riku emerged from the other side. "Oh hey, I was looking for you Sora. You up for some friendly competition?" he asked.

King Mickey continued through the door and said, "Go ahead Sora, I want to have a word with Hercules myself before we leave."

So the two boys went to opposite sides of the arena and faced each other, battle ready. Sora stared across the Coliseum at Riku. The sun was so bright his vision was a little blurred, but he recognized Riku's form as always.

Sora made the first move; he ran towards Riku and swung his Keyblade down on the older boy hard. Riku met his blow and struck back, but Sora had already moved out of the way. Riku smiled slightly. He was enjoying their fight, and Sora was too.

But Sora also felt odd fighting Riku again, the last few times he had matched blades with Riku he had done so in real combat. But now it was all in good spirit, just as it had been back during their lazy days on Destiny Island. Though they had been there not so long ago, it hadn't really felt like things were back to normal then.

Their fighting now was almost like having opened a time capsule, reminding Sora of all the things from a long time ago. Looking back on their days before he had left Destiny Island behind for the first time, it seemed like an eternity since he was able to enjoy a peaceful moment. It seemed like forever since he had been able to run around in the sunshine in the company of his childhood friends.

The two fought for a long time, their attacks so graceful it was almost like some kind of dance. Each attack was met with an equally powerful blow, and neither of them backed down an inch. The bout between Keyblade Masters was truely incredible.

Had there been an audience their battle would have been considered one of the most spectacular of all time. People would look on in awe of their ability; they would be amazed at seeing two of the most powerful beings in all the worlds do battle. But even watching them fight for an eternity would not be enough for anyone to understand the true depth of it all. Only Sora and Riku could feel how deep this was, only they knew.

After both boys were thoroughly exhausted they decided to call it a draw, for now. The sun was setting as they returned to the Lobby to meet up with everyone else. No doubt they had kept them waiting for some time now, but when they got there they only saw The King, Aerith, and Yuffie.

"All this really makes me uncomfortable", Aerith said. "Who could be doing this, and how?"

"I really don't know, no one should be able to unlock a locked world", The King said.

"What if someone else had a Keyblade? Riku was able to get one, maybe someone has one now too and they just happen to be bad news?" offered Yuffie.

"I don't think so..." King Mickey said. "Riku created his Keyblade not only from his darkness, but also his light. No evil being could do something like that under any circumstance. The Keyblades Sora, Riku and myself wield are pure, and no evil being could use them. Not like that anyway..."

"Are you so sure?" Riku asked. "Before I got my Keyblade I did take Sora's from him for a short time, and I was anything but 'pure' back then."

"What!" The King asked, more than a bit surprised.

"Yea, he took my Keyblade once", Sora said, remembering the incident not without a twinge of unease. "But I got it back from him before he used it."

The King sighed deeply. "I guess there is a lot even I don't know about the Keyblade", he said.

"You know, I kind of have to agree with Leon now that I think about it", said Yuffie.

"What do you mean?" Aerith asked.

"Well", Yuffie started. "Does any of this even matter? Do we care who is doing this? Or how? We are at least pretty sure that the root of the problem is at Hollow Bastion, so why are we wasting time with all the other worlds?"

The King walked up to Yuffie, the smile he normally wore was long gone. He stared her down with a look on his face that was unmoving. He said, "What would happen to all the people on all the worlds if they were destroyed? What would happen if Traverse Town for example was gone? Everyone who would normally manage to survive their world's destruction would be lost to the Heartless. Do you really want that on your concience? Can you really handle being responsible for that?"

King Mickey turned and walked away in quiet concentration. He wanted desperately to have answers; everyone seemed to be against him now. But he would endure, his heart was strong. All he could do was keep going anyway, and he knew despite their doubt that they would follow him. He was confident they could handle this new threat... Whatever it was...

A single, solitary tear rolled down Yuffie's cheek. "Aerith..." she said breathlessly. "We should go find Cloud and Squall--I mean Leon." She wiped her face as though it was a fleck of dirt instead of a tear and she and Aerith went outside in search of their two friends.

"... Could... ... Could someone REALLY be using a Keyblade to unlock all the worlds?" Sora said, thinking aloud more than really asking a question.

Riku put his arm around Sora and said, "Don't worry about it. Whatever happens, its okay."

Sora looked up at the other boy with a worried look on his face. He said, "Are you sure? What if it has something to do with my old Keyblade? Then it could be--"

"It's not your fault", Riku said. "Just please... Don't worry." He leaned in close to Sora. "It's okay, and even if it was somehow related to you we will all still stand by you... ... ... I will."

Sora relaxed a little, he didn't even know he had been tense. He looked into Riku's teal eyes. "Riku... I..." he trailed off.

Riku let go of him then. He still held Sora by the arm now and straightened Sora's posture so he didn't fall. "I'll be here for you Sora", he said. "I promise." He smiled and Sora could tell he was sincere. Whenever Riku smiled like that he always meant what he said.

Sora returned Riku's smile with his own and said, "Thanks. I wouldn't have it any other way."

The two walked out into the courtyard casually. It was night now, and they could see many stars in the sky above them. Sora wondered how many of them he could keep from disappearing, but he wasn't troubled so much with Riku walking by him. He felt almost invincible.

He noticed Yuffie and Aerith coming towards them. "Did either of you see Leon or Cloud in there?" asked Aerith.

"Uhm, no. I don't remember seeing either of them after they left the Coliseum", Sora answered.

"Tch... Where did they go", Yuffie said, clearly annoyed at having to hunt them down. "Know what, forget it..."

"Yuffie--", Aerith started.

"They'll be fine", Yuffie said. She tried to be cheerful, but she wore a troubled look on her face she didn't normally show. The ninja looked down and pretended to straighten out her clothes. "I wish Leon wouldn't do stuff like this. I guess it's just in his nature though... ... Well, as he would say; 'whatever...' Heh..."

"It's starting to get cold... We should head back to the ship", Riku said just as a gust of wind blew past the group.

As everyone walked away Sora remained behind and looked up at the sky again. He wondered if he could really handle this. But Riku's words stuck with him. 'I'll be here for you' he had said. That struck a note with Sora somehow. It gave him confidence. It made him feel like he could do anything. It was lucky for Sora he felt this way.

He would need every bit of strength for what was to come next.

Eventually Leon and Cloud were located; they were deep in the Coliseum. They both looked very battle worn but neither of them would say what happened. With everyone together at last they planned their next course of action.

It was decided they would go to Traverse Town. If Yuffie hadn't been the one who had insisted on it so desperately Leon might have tried to argue, but he remained quiet until everyone was finished and had gone off to bed.

He cornered The King before he went to sleep. "This doesn't mean I've changed my mind", he said.

"I know", King Mickey replied. "And this doesn't mean I won't stop trying either."

Leon looked frail then, very unlike him. He had been on edge a lot lately; it had worn him paper thin. He looked at The King with eyes that looked to belong to that of an old sage and said, "You would take this new force on by yourself if you had to wouldn't you?"

The King didn't even have to think. "Of course I would", he said.

"... That's very foolish. You would never win", Leon said.

"I won't ever give up Leon, you know that. Whatever it takes I'll give if I can, and even if I can't I'll still try", said King Mickey.

Leon turned around and without the smallest hint of emotion in his voice he said, "You won't have to do it alone, we will all be there when the time comes. To fight; win or lose. I'll be there, even if I don't like how things are now. I know how hopeless it is to fight alone against something like this..."

"I know", The King said. "Thank you Leon. And I promise, we WILL get your world back."

"... Whatever", Leon replied, and he left.

Oooooh, what will they find on Traverse Town I wonder! -- Oh wait, I know actually... But I'm not telling! I guess you'll have to wait till I finish Chapter 5 to find out. Sorry... I know that seems so far off (it most likely is). Hmmm... Oh I know! How about I give you a little something to tide you over till then?

The following is a bonus passage to my fanfic, it goes along with this chapter, but I felt it wasn't neccisary to write it into the story directly, things got too wordy and messy (like they aren't enough so already). Hope you like it, I have been waiting SO LONG for an excuse to write something like this...

Bonus Chapter

Heroes Clash Extended

Leon had cut down countless Heartless the past few hours. After his confrontation with The king he felt like blowing off some steam, much as he hated to admit it he WAS glad to be at the Olympus Collesium for this. He looked around for his next opponent, but no Heartless appeared.

He looked around questioningly, then he noticed someone coming towards him. He recognized Cloud in an instant, he must have really been mad to have come all this way Leon thought.

Cloud stoped in front of Leon and neither of them said a word or a moment. Cloud decided to break the silence and said, "Suprised?"

Leon chuckled slightly and said, "Only that it took you this long... ... ... So what now?"

"I'm sick of your attitude", Cloud said. "The King is doing his best, and he knows better than us what our priorities should be. You need to trust him or get the hell out of the way."

"Whatever, look I'm not here to please anyone", said Leon. "If you don't like the way I operate thats your problem."

"Well I don't like the way you handled that back there", said Cloud as he drew his Buster Sword. "And it just became your problem!"

Without warning Cloud lept towards Leon and with all his might he swung his sword down at him. Leon was ready with his Gunblade before Cloud was halfway towards him and he met the blow with his own.

Leon had been known for being cold and solitary at times, when he wanted to push someone away it was a simple matter of giving them the wrong look. But as he looked Cloud dead on in the eyes neither of them backed down.

"Whats your problem", he said as he continued to keep his Gunblade braced against Cloud's sword. "What are you fighting for anyway?"

Cloud pushed Leon back and continued his offense; a Gunblade met every one of his attacks. Leon rolled away to the left and brought his Gunblade up. He aimed directly at Cloud and fired, but Cloud took refuge behind the broad side of his Buster Sword.

"Thats not any of your concern", Cloud yelled as a rain of bullets met his sword. "You wouldn't understand."

The bullets stoped for a moment. Cloud took a risk and looked past his sword for a second. Leon was running towards him at full speed with his Gunblade held ready to strike. He pulled his sword up and swung it just in time to meet Leon's attack.

"Try me", Leon said continuing to attack. "I'm a little more complex than you give me credit for."

Cloud forced Leon back using his sword's greater size and momentum. While Leon was taken off balance for a split second Cloud used this opening and attacked swiftly.His blade left a shallow cut across Leon's right shoulder, and though the blood flowed freely Leon ignored the pain.

With a surge of strength Leon leapt into the air and swung his Gunblade down on Cloud hard. Cloud managed to fend off his blow but he could not push Leon back this time.

"Complex?" asked Cloud. "You're the most simplistic person I know! You hide behind a fake name just because you're sad you couldn't hold the world over your head. Squall, thats your real name isn't it? Well WAKE UP SQUALL! Sometimes bad things happen and you just can't do anything about it, but you can't take it out on other people just because you're too weak either."

Leon's eyes burned with rage now. In one deft move he turned his Gunblade, pushed Cloud's Buster Sword aside, and cut him vertically across his left arm. He raised his Gunblade to strike again, but Cloud jumped across the stadium before he could land another blow.

"That isn't my name!" Leon yelled. "And don't preach to me about being weak; you don't know anything about real power!"

"Fine", Cloud said. "You want to play for real? Lets see what you've got."

Red sparks surrounded Cloud now, and Leon could tell he was about to show his true strength. Blood covered Cloud's left arm, but his concentration never wavered. Slowly, Cloud began to lift into the air. A demonic black wing sprouted from his back on the left side, and he had a cold look of death in his eyes.

In a heartbeat Cloud was on the move, tearing his way across the stadium towards Leon beyond what any normal person would be able to react to. But Leon was no normal person.

Leon widened his stance a little and raised his weapon above his head. His right arm, like Cloud's left, bled profusely. His Gunblade began to glow with a spectrum of every-colored light. Then his sword was transformed; the blade was longer than before and it glowed with an ungodly power.

He met Cloud's assault with his own, and the two exchanged blow after blow. Cloud was moving incredibly fast flying through the air, but he could hardly get close With Leon swinging that gigantic blade around at lightning speed. The two titans continued to attack one another relentlessly with one lethal blow after another. After one especially powerful clash, both Leon and Cloud were sent reeling backwards from the backlash.

"Truely fascinating", Cloud said.

"I warned you", Leon said, not letting his guard down an instant.

Cloud watched Leon stand there, he was undoubtedly an incredibly impressive fighter. Cloud lowered his blade slightly and said, "My name is Cloud Strife. And I am searching for the person who decimated my home town and killed every person I ever cared for. So I will find him and destroy him, that is what I am fighting for."

If Leon was affected by this he didn't show it. He said, "My name is Squall Leonheart, but I have thrown that name and that identity away. I am Leon now, and I am fighting to repair the world that I was too weak to protect in the first place. I will succeed at any cost; if my world needs blood to be reborn, then it will be my blood."

The two stared each other down once again, but it was different this time. Instead of rage burning in their eyes, they had admiration for one another's cause in their hearts. To truely appreciate something it is not necissary to understand it, but with this new found knowledge of one another Leon and Cloud were able to reach a sort of unspoken understanding.

"Let us pray we both find what we are searching for then", Cloud said.

Leon, said, "Okay. Does that mean you give up?"

Cloud raised his sword again and said, "Not on your life."

Leon smiled, if only for a fraction of a second, and said, "I was hoping you would say that."

And so their quest continued...

There, finally we get to see a battle between the two great bishounen of Kingdom Hearts... The older ones... ... That don't smoke (sorry Cid P). And yea, it's A DRAW! P Sorry, they BOTH pwn. 


	5. Broken Memories

Come quite a ways so far, but I'm not nearly done with Sora and Riku yet. Their story isn't over, and neither are the hardships they must face to end it. Life is an uphill battle for many; that is one thing I always keep in mind. And it is the principle I base this chapter on.

This isn't pretty, if you don't like it tough. You've been warned.

Chapter Five

Broken Memories

Sora pushed the large doors open, and the light from all the street lamps overwhelmed him a moment. It only took a second for his eyes to adjust, and he looked around District One of Traverse Town. It remained much the quiet ordinary town it always had been (at least when it wasn't under siege by the Heartless). He saw the familiar Item and Accessory Shop just as they always were, and the Post sitting out next to them. He could smell the scent of fresh food from the bakery not too far off, and he soon realized how hungry he was.

But he had no time for food now; he had a job to do. While everyone else scattered to gather intelligence, it was his duty to reseal this world if the lock he had put on it had come undone as the others had. So, putting his growling stomach down a priority level, he set off for District Two.

Riku watched as all his companions separated to gather any clues to what was going on, and he saw Sora go up the stairs next to the Accessory shop towards District Two. He knew Sora would be fine, there shouldn't be any danger locking this world even if the Heartless were back. They would be in such few numbers here and the Keyhole was so close by, no one could argue that Sora would be just fine on his own.

It was at that time that Riku decided he didn't need a reason to want to be near Sora, and he set off after him.

Sora peeked through the large doors into District Two, he saw no sign of Heartless activity, but that didn't mean they couldn't appear at any moment they wanted to. With caution, Sora took a few steps forward. He waited for the Heartless to spring into action and attack him, but none came.

A little relieved he might not have to deal with the stress of battle for a while; he made his way down the stairs to his right and went into the courtyard where the Keyhole to Traverse Town rested.

He looked into the fountain, watching as the water danced around as if it was putting on a show for him. His gaze softened as he thought how it was a little strange something so simplistic could be so calming. The sound of the water splashing was like an anesthetic, numbing all his pain away to nothing. The light reflecting off the ever-changing surface of the water lifted the darkness from his being and made him feel light enough that a gust of wind might blow him away.

Sora looked to the base of the fountain, and to no surprise saw the Keyhole sitting out in the open. Unlocked.

Sora took in a deep breath of the cool crisp air, and drew his Keyblade. The shadows around him danced briefly as the light of his Keyblade appeared and disappeared leaving behind the awesome weapon in the boy's hands. He began to raise it and was about to go to work locking the Keyhole when he noticed Riku coming down the stairs towards him.

"Riku, what are you doing here?" Sora asked, a little flustered to see his friend somewhat unexpectedly.

Riku seemed not to know the answer himself for a moment, but then with his usual confidence said, "Well, I just wanted to make sure everything went okay."

Sora was a little offended; did Riku not think he was capable? He had done this many times before with no problem. "I'm fine Riku", he said, not at all attempting to conceal his agitation. "You don't have to worry about me."

Riku's smirk loosened to a more concerned look, and he walked over to Sora. He embraced Sora into his arms and before the younger boy could protest he said, "Do I really still need a reason to worry about you? I just want to be here... ... With you."

Sora's first instincts told him to push Riku away. It wasn't the time to be getting emotional like before, and boys weren't supposed to just hug for no reason. But he felt like Riku's embrace had drained all his will to resist from him, and he just let the older boy hold him. It actually felt... Nice...

Sora looked up at Riku and said, "Riku... I have a job to do now."

"I understand", Riku said, letting go of Sora.

Sora turned towards the Keyhole, and he aimed his Keyblade towards it. White hot light shot from the tip of his Keyblade and pierced the Keyhole. Sora felt the energy pour from him and from his Keyblade into it, willing it to lock itself once again and keep the world safe.

Riku approached Sora from behind, and grasped the hilt of the Keyblade as if he was teaching Sora how to use it properly. "Let me help you", he said. And as his hands touched Sora's, the light from the Keyblade changed.

Shadows crept from Riku's body and surrounded Sora's beam of light. The two flickered together as if fighting for dominance, and then suddenly they were one. A bright orange glow erupted from Sora's Keyblade, more intense and focused than before. And then there was the sound of a door locking, and then nothing.

The Keyhole faded into the stone of the fountain, and with it faded any immediate danger the Heartless posed on this world.

Sora turned and looked at Riku. "What did you do?" he asked, unsure of what had just happened.

"I don't know", Riku said with an intense look on his face, trying to analyze the situation. "But... I don't think that this world can be unlocked again. Not like the other ones."

"How do you know?" Sora asked, confused.

Riku shrugged and said, "I just have this feeling."

For no particular reason, Sora believed him. He knew Riku had a sort of sixth sense with the forces of light and dark. So if he said it couldn't be unlocked, he was probably right.

The two boys stood there a moment, neither of them said anything. They just looked at each other, both waiting for the other to say something. Then, without warning, Riku stepped towards Sora. He held the younger boy close to him, and just like before Sora didn't protest. Neither of them said anything, they just stood there. Riku drew Sora closer to him... Closer... Closer...

At that moment, a small girl walked from around the corner behind them. She had a sort of detached look on her face, her eyes seemed glazed over with sadness. But at the sight of the two boys her expression changed in a heartbeat, she giddily shouted, "Riku! Sora! What're you doing here?"

Riku instantly pulled himself away from Sora and turned to the girl. She still stood in the shadows, but her voice was so familiar.

"Who are you?" Riku asked, a little tense.

"Heheh, is that any way to talk to your childhood friend?" she asked.

"... Selphie?" Sora asked, peering at her through the dark.

"Bingo!" Selphie said as she stepped out from the shadows. "A little surprising it's the thick headed one to figure things out first."

Riku chuckled as Sora shouted words no fifteen year old should be shouting. He felt tremendous relief Selphie seemed to have not noticed what was going on though. But, what was going on... What was he doing?

Pushing these questions aside, he asked, "Selphie, how did you get here anyway?"

Selphie's grin disappeared as quickly as if a candle light had been snuffed out. She began to breathe deeply as if thinking about it caused her a great deal of pain. "Guys", she said. "Something happened guys... Destiny Island... It's... ... It's gone."

Sora's expression changed from happy to see his friend to horrified at the news that his world had once again disappeared. "Where's everyone else? What happened?" he asked.

"Most of us are ok", she said, but Sora could tell she was close to crying now. "But Kairi..."

Tears poured freely from Selphie's face now. She had been crying a lot lately, and for good reason. But she couldn't explain any of this. It was all beyond words she was capable of. All the managed to say was, "Just follow me." And she turned and ran.

The two boys chased after her without a second thought as she ran around the corner she had come from, heading towards District Three. She burst through the doors and ran towards the small house that sat at the top of the stairs near the doorway she had just entered through. This house had acted as a HQ for Sora and company in the past, and though none of his friends had planned on meeting there the lights were on and the boys could hear people inside. Selphie ran inside, and Sora and Riku followed.

Sora went in first, but he stopped short. Even before looking around he could tell something was wrong. The first thing he could tell about the house was the smell. There was an overwhelming scent of blood that flooded his senses.

Regaining his composure, Sora stepped forward and looked around. Riku entered behind him and had much the same reaction. Sora looked over and saw a new bed against the far wall. And he saw a familiar figure lying in it.

He ran over to Kairi, but the second he got close enough to see her well he drew back. His eyes widened as he used all his will power to force the contents of him stomach from escaping him. He closed his eyes a second but it hardly helped, and when he opened them again the same image was there in front of him. And again he had to force himself not to vomit.

Kairi was unconscious, and the bed was drenched red. She was pale from having lost so much blood. She had every manner of cuts and bruises all over her body. But that wasn't what left Sora practically gasping for air that didn't taste like blood.

On Kairi's left arm was a deep gash, leading from her shoulder down halfway past her elbow. The muscle and bone were exposed underneath it. Rather than having broken, the bones in her arm were shattered.

A similar cut wound across her lower chest. Several bones and some of her vital organs were displaced, and what remained of her ribs where mashed together as if someone had tried to rearrange them to opposite sides of her body and stopped halfway in the process.

Her knees were both totally ruined. One was bent the wrong way, and the other was torn to pieces, barely hanging onto the rest of her body.

Her right hand was utterly crushed; her fingers were indistinguishable from the rest of her hand. It was questionable if they were even all still attached.

And her face. From her temple down across her left eye to her chin was a deep wound. The muscle on her face lay in plain sight, viewable to the world. Her skull, though not critically damaged, was bruised thoroughly. And she had no left eye, only an empty socket where it should have been.

Sora was frozen, he wanted to move, but his limbs wouldn't respond. Riku, only slightly more able to do anything, stepped next to Sora. He looked at Kairi, his composure faltering. "Tell me everything", he said to Selphie without turning to look at her.

Selphie sat in the corner of the room, though she must have seen Kairi like this before she was obviously not used to it in the least. She clutched her head and just stared at the floor. Her lips began to move, but no sound came out at first. She took several deep breaths and began.

"It all happened just after you left", she started. "Later that day, the Heartless came back. There were so many of them, and we tried our best to defend the island. But they defeated us all. Finally, they tried to absorb the whole world just like before... We all tried to escape the way you guys did last time, but we were ambushed by Heartless. We tried to get away, but they were relentless... And then Kairi fell when we were so close, but she just yelled for us to keep going. None of us even looked back, but I was the last one to go through the portal, and... All I could hear... ... Was Kairi screaming..."

"We have to help her!" Riku said as he moved toward her.

Before he could disturb her, Selphie looked up and said, "Don't, you'll only make it worse. When I got into this world I saw her lying next to me, just like that... Tidus and Wakka helped carry her here, there was a sorcerer nearby when we got here who said we could use this place. He tried to use his magic to heal her, but no matter what he did nothing happened..."

"I'm afraid it's just out of my power", came a voice behind Sora. He and Riku turned to see Merlin, the sorcerer that taught Sora the art of magic. Adorned in blue robes and his pointed hat, he looked quite old and frail. Though he was very old (most likely much older than he appeared through use of magic to sustain his life), he always had a sparkle of life in his old blue eyes. Now he just looked tired. "The best I could do was seal her body in the state it was in when she got here", he explained. "She won't die; you don't need to worry about that. But until whatever sort of curse she is under is lifted she cannot be revived."

Sora heard everything, but none of it really registered with him. He turned back to Kairi and his stomach lurched. He swallowed it back down and stared at the girl. Disbelief still claimed him; he simply could not accept this. It was, impossible. This broken thing in front of him couldn't possibly be Kairi, it just couldn't. But it was.

His sorrow gradually turned to anger, and burning hatred. His trembling hands clenched to fists. "NO", he screamed. "I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!" He closed his eyes tight and stretched out his hands to Kairi.

"CURAGA", he screamed. Light from his body flashed around Kairi, but a red glow from her expelled it. And she remained unchanged. "CURAGA", he shouted once again with the same result. "CURAGA CURAGA CURAGA!" But nothing happened.

"It won't work, I've tried", Merlin said with a look of pity.

"This isn't a curse", Riku said as he looked at Kairi's broken body. "This is just the work of the Heartless..."

"No!" yelled Sora. "No no no! This... This isn't right... This is not the way it was supposed to be..."

His knees began to give way to him. Partly from the expulsion of all his MP and from his nausea. But he somehow managed to keep standing. He didn't realize at first, but it was because Riku was holding him up.

"Sora--", but Riku was cut off as his friend jerked free of his grasp and bolted out the door. Without waiting to hear anything else he ran after Sora.

Sora was standing just outside the house, looking down over the main area of the District. He didn't respond when Riku placed his arm on the boy's shoulder.

He sat there, just staring for a minute. His mind was flooded with thoughts now, all struggling for control of him. Finally, he managed to say, in all but a whisper, "How... How could this happen... This is wrong... This is so wrong..."

And then he couldn't keep his stomach down anymore. Riku looked away, but kept his hand on Sora's shoulder. After a minute Sora was done, his stomach was empty now but he felt even worse than before.

"It's going to be okay Sora", he said.

Sora just kept staring down. He wiped his mouth and said, "I... ... I just... I just don't know what to do..."

Riku pulled Sora closer to him and said, "It's going to be okay. I promise."

"What are we going to do..." Sora said, barely hanging onto consciousness now.

"I promise Sora, it's going to be okay", said Riku firmly. "Whoever is responsible for this. I swear... I'm... I'm going to kill them." Riku glared up at the sky, and then back down at Sora with a warm empathetic look.

"I swear it"

Till next time. 


	6. Empty Revalation

And then their wounds opened wide for the world to see.

Chapter Six

Empty Revalation

"I swear it", Riku said.

Those were the last words Sora heard as he slipped towards unconsciousness. He felt his knees buckle, and he felt Riku catch him as he fell back into the older boy's arms. The sensation of being held by his long-time friend was becoming familiar by now. He welcomed the sweet relief of sleep along with Riku's comforting embrace.

"I swear it" he had said. It was the second time Riku had made a promise to Sora. The second time he had sworn an oath to him. He felt Sora lose his footing, and caught the boy before he fell.

Sora was unconscious Riku could tell. Riku pulled him a little closer so he wouldn't lose his grip... ... And then a little closer. He won't mind--he won't even have to know, he thought. Why not then? ... More importantly, why... Sora might have been oblivious to everything between them, but Riku had known for some time.

He was in love with Sora.

Still, they couldn't be together. After everything that had happened, and now there may even be a chance the darkness still had some hold over him as well. He looked down at the younger boy; even asleep he was cute. He actually looked at ease, something he had not been lately... Sora was so innocent, Riku could never hurt him. And that's why he could never be with him.

And then there was Kairi. Now that was a difficult one. Riku had always seen himself as Kairi's "knight in shining armor", though only as a sort of older brother. He wasn't sure how Sora felt, but after what happened just now he was sure. Sora must like her, after all it makes sense.

"So then, does this mean I'm gay?" he said, thinking aloud. The thought had crossed his mind many times. Though he knew he had some kind of feelings for Sora, he avoided thinking about what that meant about himself for some time. The thought scared him. Courageous as he was most of the time, some things would shake even his strong heart. Some things would shake any heart.

"It would make sense", he went on. "All those years on the island and I never felt anything for Kairi. You would have to be queer not to like her..." he said with a chuckle. Trying to shrug this all off. But then the truth hit him like a ton of bricks. It wasn't just a simple matter of saying 'oh I'm gay, the end' for him, this meant something. This meant he wasn't the person he had known for the last sixteen years. This meant he was different. He couldn't just smile and pretend to be happy, not now. He grimaced and shut his eyes. "I don't want to be this way. This... This isn't right! Why me... Of all people... It's just... Not right... ... ... They're all going to hate me, all my friends... Everyone... But, I guess I don't need to tell them. If I can't be with Sora, there isn't anyone for me... ... So it doesn't matter..."

That's how he had been raised after all, how everyone he knew had been raised. It was just wrong, and there wasn't any other way around it. Boys were not supposed to like each other. It was disgusting, and terrible. His friends would all shun him if they knew...

He suddenly felt alone, and cold. So horribly alone... So helpless. No one would understand, no one would be okay with this. He despised himself then, if not forever but for those few minutes. He hated himself.

He was shaking now, he couldn't stop. He set Sora down with the last ounce of control he had over himself before he broke down. He had kept all this inside for so long, he had let it all build up to this point. So he cried. The tears came so easily. They flowed so freely. And he sobbed, he didn't care who heard him anymore. He didn't care about anything, nothing mattered anymore. Everything was so frivolous and insignificant compared to this. He wasn't the same person anyone knew all those years, he wasn't even the same person he knew. He was this horrible monstrosity.

He looked down at Sora. He wanted so much to just hold the boy closer to him. Despite how wrong he knew his feelings were, more than anything he wanted to feel Sora's body against his. That's why it took all his will to pull himself together and just carry Sora back to the ship.

He rested Sora's shoulders on his right arm and picked up his legs. Sora was a little heavier than he looked; he needed to tone it down on the mega potions... As he walked back to the gummy ship, Sora shifted closer to him. It would have been so easy, no one would ever have to know... Maybe it would be enough, just once... It couldn't hurt... ... ... But he couldn't, he knew he would only feel more strongly if he did.

As he left the Third District, a lone figure stood watch high up on the buildings. Out of sight of the two boys. The cloaked figure turned to see Leon walking towards him.

"I'm assuming you saw too", Leon said as he came to a stop in front of him.

"I already knew", King Mickey said as he pulled down his hood.

"So then, have you talked to either of them? You know this could ruin everything if it's not dealt with properly" Leon said.

"I know the circumstances, I of all people know exactly what could happen. But I don't think talking to either of them will help. Let them do this on their own, interfering could be disastrous" The King replied.

"But doing nothing could bring the same result" Leon said. "If you won't do anything then I will, we can't afford to lose either or both of them at this point."

"Let it alone Leon, please" The King said glancing down where the boys were. "We may have nothing to worry about if we are lucky."

"Nothing to worry about?" Leon asked musingly. "You saw what happened when he locked this world. That's not supposed to happen; The Keyblade isn't supposed to be able to interact with outside powers like that."

"I know", King Mickey said.

Leon's expression shifted a little, but he kept his cool. "Really? Well it's because there was no outside force. That Keyblade is cobbled together--"

"I said I know", The King said. "But it doesn't mean that we need to worry."

"Hmp, always the optimist your majesty?" Leon asked.

"Yes, always. And please Leon, don't worry about them. And don't say anything to anyone", The King said. He could have meant it as a command, but somehow his words seemed more forceful when formed together as if asking for a favor.

Leon sighed. "Fine" he said. "I just hope you know what you're doing."

"I hope so too", The King replied.

The ex-SeeD paused a minute. "So what about the girl?" he asked.

"We will save her. That's all", King Mickey said.

"... Alright", Leon replied.

Riku rested Sora down on the bed inside the Gummy ship. The boy was still fast asleep; seeing Sora sleep so soundly made Riku yawn. He realized he hadn't slept too much lately himself. With everything that had been going on he was too tense to. He was barely awake after what had just happened though, but just as the thought of lying down to take a nap came to him he suddenly snapped to attention.

He smelled darkness. Riku looked around the room for the source, but saw nothing immediately.

"Come out", he said. "I know you're here!"

"Very good", came a voice from the air. "I expected nothing less from the Dark One."

A small portal appeared suddenly in front of the door. A cloaked Unknown walked through it and the portal faded to nothing. He looked much the same as all the other Unknown Riku had seen, he kept his face cloaked in darkness from his drawn hood. Only Riku noticed this Unknown bore a very strange weapon; his eyes widened as he caught sight of it.

Noticing Riku's surprise, the Unknown raised his weapon forward and said, "Impressed? You should be. You have no idea to what lengths I went to obtain this. I must say though, these Keyblades are well worth the trouble they are to get."

It was true. In the Unknown's hand was a Keyblade. Though it looked nothing like his own or Sora's, it was definitely a Keyblade. It was a contorted vile object. A twisted version of Sora and Mickey's Keyblade, made of dark hues of red and black. And it came to a deadly sharp point at the end.

"I suppose I should thank the two of you", the Unknown said. "If not for you I might not have this. And it would be such a pity if I couldn't destroy all those worlds your friend already locked."

Riku took this time to summon his Keyblade. In a flash the weapon was sitting in his hands and he was ready to do battle.

"I don't know what you're talking about", Riku said as he assumed his battle stance. "Whatever you're up to, I'm taking you down now."

"Now now, that wouldn't be any fun. Besides, I have a lot of plans for you. However, if you insist on meeting your demise so soon I might be able to arrange it for you" the Unknown said.

Then the Unknown disappeared. He simply was there one second, and the next he wasn't. "Too fast for you?" he asked.

Riku spun around and ducked just in time to evade the Unknown's blow. The Unknown swung his Keyblade again and again expertly. Riku only just managed to move out of the way every time. Finally he met the Unknown's blow with his own.

"You expect to hurt me with that toy?" the Unknown said. He pushed Riku back suddenly as if the effort was nothing to him, and then he stepped back a few paces.

Riku didn't notice at first, but the Unknown was moving closer to Sora. The second he realized what the Unknown was doing he leapt forward and swung his weapon madly. "Keep away from him!" he screamed.

The Unknown moved out of the way of Riku's attack effortlessly, and was now right next to the unconscious Sora. Riku began to move forward to continue his attack, but stopped when the Unknown drew his Keyblade close to Sora's neck. "That's what I thought", the Unknown said. "Wouldn't want me to damage your love now would you?"

"W-what did you say?" Riku asked, shocked.

"Hmp, amusing", said the Unknown. He looked to Sora and moved his Keyblade ever so slightly closer to him.

"Stop it!" Riku yelled, though he could do nothing without endangering Sora now.

The Unknown looked back to Riku. Though his face was not visible, Riku could tell he was enjoying this. "Now, just what would you do to ensure your friend's safety?" the Unknown asked. Riku glared, but said nothing. "Now, I do believe I just asked you a question." He said, and then lowered his Keyblade a hair towards Sora. A thin streak of blood trickled down from his cheek onto the bed. "Oops, clumsy me... Too bad for your friend I guess, wounds inflicted with this weapon will never heal."

Realization suddenly dawned on Riku. "You're the one that hurt Kairi then!" he shouted.

"That is correct" the Unknown said. "I'm afraid she was just a bit too slow, and I can't allow myself to be that sloppy." Seeing Riku's furious expression the Unknown laughed lightly. "I suppose you aren't happy with me now are you?"

"I think you have enjoyed yourself enough", came a voice from nowhere.

"It was just getting interesting though", the Unknown protested.

"Wrap things up fast, you have company", the voice replied.

"Very well", the Unknown said as he raised his weapon above Sora.

"NO!" Riku yelled. He sprang forward at an inhuman speed and threw the Unknown back.

"Ngh! Fine, you want to play? Then let me just see how you like this", the Unknown said. He got to his feet and ran towards Riku. The boy tried to meet his blow, but at the last second the Unknown changed his attack.

At that instant the entire wall the door was attached to shattered. It seemed to just rip itself to pieces, but in a flash a figure stepped through the rubble. Cloud raised his buster sword high and hit the Unknown hard with the broad side of his blade, throwing him outside the ship all the way across the First District. Cloud was about to continue his assault when he noticed Sora and Riku, he turned his attention to them to ensure their safety.

The Unknown staggered to his feet in time to see Leon jump off the building above him and strike him sharply with his Gunblade. The Unknown retained his footing this time, but skidded across the lobby again. Leon fired off a round of bullets on the Unknown as he ran towards him, never missing a shot. Once in range, he swiped his blade at the Unknown relentlessly. The Unknown seemed in control again as he dodged Leon's assault, but he was taken by surprise when the ex-SeeD changed tactics and spun around kicking him in the gut hard. The Unknown flew through the air and smashed into a wall.

The Unknown rose up once again and brushed the dust off his jacket. He looked up to see The King in front of him, backed up by Leon and Cloud on either side of him. "I want answers", The King said, holding his ground.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I must be going for now", the Unknown said. He stepped back a pace as a portal began to form behind him. "Perhaps next time we can have a proper battle, your majesty." And then he and the portal vanished.

As The King turned around and made his way to the now wrecked Gummy ship, Cloud said, "I'm sorry your majesty, I wasn't able to stop him."

"It's fine Cloud", King Mickey replied. "We have wounded to attend to now though." As they entered the ruined Gummy ship, The King asked, "Riku, are you two alright?" He looked at the two, Sora's cheek seemed to be bleeding, and he was unconscious. Riku seemed no worse for the wear though.

"He caught me off guard, that's all", Riku said. "I'm fine, but... He cut Sora, and he says it won't heal--he's the one who hurt Kairi!"

"I know", The King said as he walked over to Sora. He looked down at the sleeping boy and said, "He did more to Sora than just cut him, he cast some spell on him. Sleep it looks like. But I should be able to take care of this." With that, The King reached his hand towards Sora, and light formed around him. "DISSPELL!" he shouted.

Sora slowly opened his eyes. He could feel a faint stinging on his left cheek, but his thoughts weren't on his pain now. "W-where am I?" he asked. His cheek stung sharply at the use of his jaw. He looked around sluggishly as his vision adjusted.

"You feinted back in the Third District..." Riku said, trying not to lose his cool in front of Sora. "I-- ... I brought you back here, but we were attacked... By some Unknown with a Keyblade. He's the one that attacked Kairi."

"Where is he?" Sora exclaimed as he got up. Again, his cheek hurt sharply.

"Relax Sora" King Mickey said. "Despite our efforts, he got away. But you have to calm down; he injured you. It might not look like much, but if that wound won't heal then you could be in a lot of trouble."

Sora looked down at himself, he could see he had already bled all over himself and one side of the bed. Even though it wasn't a very bad cut, The King was right. The blood refused to quit flowing, and it was beginning to affect him. He reached up to wipe some of the blood off his face, but he felt so lightheaded he couldn't even tell his hand was already smeared with blood. He slumped against the back of the bed; Sora looked very pale all the sudden.

"Stay with us Sora", The King said. He drew his Keyblade now and pointed it towards Sora. "CURAGA!" He shouted.

Some color returned to Sora's paling skin. He seemed to jump a little as if he had been awoken suddenly. "T-thanks", he said as he got up. His wound still bled though. He cupped his hand against it to try to stop the flow, but to no avail.

"You'll have to take it easy until I can find a permanent solution", King Mickey said. "Don't move around too much... Although you could probably stand moving to a clean bed at least." He turned to the other boy and continued, "Riku. Would you keep an eye on him for me? If anything happens I want you to come get me immediately."

"Right, you can count on me..." Riku said dolefully.

The King turned to everyone else. "I have to investigate into this business as soon as possible, but I should be able to come up with an answer on my own. Everyone else continue gathering information on the Heartless, we must not forget what we came here for. The Unknown probably intends us all to fretter away our time over Sora, and while his life takes a high priority so do all the worlds." He began to exit the ship, but then turned to Riku and said, "don't worry, keep him safe and I will find a way to cure him. I promise."

Riku nodded in response, he hardly felt capable of speaking anymore.

Without saying a word, The King, Leon and Cloud all left. It was important to wrap things up in this world quickly if something was going on, and this was the most activity they had seen so far. Sora would be fine with Riku there though, or they hoped so.

Riku helped Sora move to another bed, the one he was on was covered in blood by now. Sora kept asking Riku about what had happened while he was asleep, and Riku managed to tell him. Mostly... After Sora was done asking questions, Riku insisted he be quiet and rest. It was probably better for Sora's health, and anyway Riku didn't think he could manage conversation with Sora right now.

The two tried to bandage Sora's wound several times. It was difficult because the blood wouldn't stop long enough for Riku to get a bandage over it. They gave up after a while once Sora started to feel a little woozy again.

"Should I go get King Mickey?" Riku asked. While he was confident in his own ability to reinforce his abilities with his Keyblade, his knowledge of curative magic was next to nothing. And while he had plenty of Potions and items of the like, they were all most likely far too weak to have an affect on Sora now.

"... ... I dunno... ..." Sora replied wearily. He was beginning to look very pale again.

"Sora?" Riku said.

Sora moaned lightly as he fell back onto the bed. He was barely conscious now, and while his face was clean of blood it was only because Riku had been tending to his wound the whole time.

"Damn, I need to find The King", Riku said.

"Riku..." Sora said meekly as he saw Riku get up. "Don't... Leave..."

Riku looked to Sora. He wanted more than anything to stay and protect him, but there wasn't anything he could do. Even if he found The King it wouldn't mean he had done anything for Sora. It wouldn't mean he had saved him, and he had made a promise... That was more important than anything to him. More important than The King's orders. More important than common sense. More important than himself and his stupid feelings even.

His mind told him to forget this and move. His mind told him if he wanted to help Sora he would go get The King. But his legs wouldn't move... He couldn't... He may as well have been chained to the other boy. He just couldn't bring himself to leave.

Riku saw Sora begin to close his eyes. "Wait Sora! You've gotta hang on!" he said. But his words couldn't reach Sora now, he had feinted from the loss of blood.

Riku looked on at the boy, still unable to move. Unable to run away screaming as he so wanted to. As much as it hurt him, to sit there. As much as it hurt him, to just breathe.

It absolutely killed him to be unable to do anything. He couldn't save Sora. He couldn't even begin to think of loving him. He couldn't do anything but sit there and feel sorry for himself. He could only hurt for the pain he had, and for the pain Sora had.

Riku stood there, terrified. He didn't know what to do now, this was all too much of an overload for him. So he just collapsed to his knees in front of Sora. All Riku knew was he loved Sora. All he could do was act on that.

"Sora..." he spoke wearily. "Please... ... Don't leave me again... Don't leave me alone..." His words were barely a whisper.

He moved closer to Sora. "Please, Just... ... ... Live..." Closer...

And before he realized it, he had kissed Sora's cheek softly.

He pulled back, a small patch of blood dripped from his mouth. However, the sensation of kissing Sora remained. And odd feeling he couldn't describe. A warm, good feeling.

The tears came again, without his noticing. He just looked down at Sora. Unable to do anything for him, and then he gaped in surprise. His expression didn't change really, he just sort of stared as it happened.

Sora's wound began to heal itself. A trickle of orange light teemed from it, and in an instant the wound was gone altogether. His face, though still pale, was unharmed. There was not even the hint of a scar where he had been cut before.

Riku's mind should have been going a million miles a second now. His mind should have been asking a hundred questions. But it was like his world was moving in slow motion now. He just tried to let everything go. Riku needed time to himself. As he got up he wiped away the blood he had gotten on his mouth...

His own blood...

I hope some people can understand after this, what this kind of pain means. And if you don't, keep reading. You will.

Special thanks to Emily, this chapter wouldn't have happened without you. 


	7. Meant to be

Sorry about the last chapter. Life sucks though. I never said that this would always be a happy story, and I also cannot guarantee a happy ending. However, I doubt that's going to stop anyone from reading on...

Chapter Seven

Meant to be

Sora woke up the following morning. Aside from feeling a little stiff, he was as good as new. No one could offer any explanation to Sora's recovery. The only person they thought might know was Riku; who had not been seen since the night before...

Unable to leave with their ship in disrepair and Riku missing in action, the group was forced to stay in Traverse Town for the time being. Cid went straight to work fixing the gummy ship (after spending about ten minutes chastising Cloud for breaking it in the first place), and the others chose either to stay and help Cid or to go search for Riku.

"I'd like you to stay in the ship if that's alright with you Sora", The King said.

"Wha--but why?" asked Sora.

"After everything that's been going on, we need to be careful. It seems you and Riku both are targets now, so you need to stay here where it's safe."

"But if I'm in any danger then so is Riku!" Sora protested. "I'm as much a priority as he is, I should be out there looking for him with everyone else."

The King sighed; he knew Sora would not let up no matter how much he objected to the idea of him leaving the ship. "If you go, will you promise to take Donald and Goofy with you this time? I will not allow you to wander around alone right now, not after you were just attacked."

"Really? That's all?" Sora asked, pleased he would get to search for his friend.

"That and I want you to be careful. We don't know what we're up against, and we can't afford to let our guard down even for a second", King Mickey said.

"If we're going to go then lets go now!" Sora turned to see Donald glaring at him, Goofy beside him with a big dumbfounded grin on his face.

"Yea Sora, time's a wastin'!" Goofy said.

"All right, let's go look for Riku then!" Sora said enthusiastically.

So the trio set out in search of Riku, much like they had several years before after Sora was separated from his friends. Their first destination was the Second District. There, they ran into Leon and Yuffie. They were told that they would search this district, but that the Third District was unchecked.

"Go ahead and look there, we will take care of things here", Leon said.

"Yea, and you better not overlook any place either or else!" Yuffie said threateningly.

As they walked towards the Third District, Goofy looked at Sora questioningly and said, "Hey Sora... What's been on your mind lately? You haven't been the same..."

Sora looked at Goofy and said, "What? I haven't changed! I just--I... I have a lot on my mind right now."

"... Well don't be such a sour puss all the time!" blared Donald. "It's depressing, and you know no matter what happens you have us here for you."

"Heh, thanks Donald, and I know you're here for me", Sora said with a smile. "You guys really are great friends ya know."

Goofy laughed and said, "Uhyuck, it's like we keep tellin you Sora: all for one--"

"--and one for all", Sora finished; now smiling broadly.

"Stop being so mushy and lets get going already!" squawked Donald.

"Heh, Right..." Sora said as he pushed open the door to the Third District.

As the trio set foot on the upper area of the Third District, Sora knew they weren't alone. He looked up to see a swarm of Air Soldiers spiraling down at them at break neck speeds. "Look out!" Sora shouted as he rolled out of harm's way. Donald and Goofy, being only a second too late to notice their attackers, were sent flying.

Sora spun around quickly facing the closest of the Heartless. With the flick of his wrist he sent his Keyblade flying towards the doomed Air Soldier and in a flash the Heartless was gone. He was already running towards the next Heartless as he summoned his Keyblade back to him in a flash of light. His slashed through it quickly and it too disappeared.

Sora turned barely in time to see another of the flying Heartless charging towards him, but a rogue flash of lightning from the sky incinerated it before it got close to its target. Donald's wand still flickered with magic as he and Goofy ran to Sora's side. The second the two reached Sora a swarm of Air Soldiers appeared in the sky.

Sora looked up at the sky uneasily as the Heartless advanced, but he wasn't really worried. He gripped his Keyblade tightly in his hand, and summoned the magic that would bind him and Donald together for a short period of time. In a great flash of light his companion disappeared, and Sora's black clothes turned a deep shade of blue. He flipped his elongated Keyblade behind him as he began to pour his magic into it.

Pointing his charged Keyblade towards the sky, he let loose all his pent up magic. Searing hot bullets of white magic flared from his Keyblade and tore through the Heartless' bodies, but their numbers were too great for it to hardly dent their barrage. Knowing this, Sora decided he was going to have to go all out in his attack.

Sora concentrated an enormous amount of magic into his Keyblade now. All number of elements met around it in a vortex of power. As the Heartless were almost upon him, Sora held up his Keyblade once again, and a cataclysm of magic erupted from its tip.

Thunder crashed down from the sky like rain. Fire rose up from out of nowhere engulfing everything in its path. Ice shot from his Keyblade as though it was being exhaled by a giant, and the helpless Air Soldiers were instantly trapped in a tomb of ice before falling to their doom and shattering into a million pieces. Even the gravity seemed to tear itself apart at Sora's ushering of magic.

Sora lowered his weapon as he looked at his handiwork; all the Heartless were exterminated. He had won, but his strength was sapped. Unable to hold his form any longer, Sora sank to his knees as his clothes turned to their normal black and Donald reappeared in a blue flash.

"You okay Sora?" Goofy asked peeking out from behind his shield making sure it was safe.

"I-I'm fine..." Sora said, catching his breath while he wearily got to his feet. He was fatigued, but that wouldn't stop him from finding Riku.

In an underground alleyway not too far away... Splotches of red stained the cold, stone floor in a path leading to a cloaked figure hunched over near the water's edge. Riku had donned his Unknown jacket again in hopes of covering his crimson stains with the black robes. He clutched his chest as he gazed at the water's surface.

"Why does this have to hurt so much..." he contemplated out loud.

"Because", a voice from behind him said. "This is the path you've chosen."

Riku, still very much strong enough to do so, quickly looked behind him. King Mickey stood there, looking up at him without the slightest trace of anger or resentment. Riku knew him going off on his own must have set everyone in an uproar looking for him, but The King didn't seem upset with him.

The silver haired boy stood there a moment, silent. "I'm sorry, your majesty..." he said meekly.

"Don't apologize Riku", The King said. "I understand."

"Thanks, I'll go back to the others in a little bit; could you tell them not to worry for me?" Riku asked.

"Riku... Did you think you could hide this from us for very long?" King Mickey asked the boy.

"W-what do you mean?" Riku asked, not at all liking where this conversation was going.

The King simply replied, "Your secret."

Riku's eyes widened in terror. Even his battle hardened heart and time worn soul wasn't prepared for this. "M-Mickey I...' he stammered.

"You couldn't keep it from us forever, someone was bound to notice", said The King. "... Especially Sora."

Riku flinched at the mention of the younger boy's name. "Please don't tell them... Please, please don't, I just... It's not meant to be like this..." Riku trailed off.

"If you don't want me to I won't, but you can't walk around with a wound like that forever", King Mickey said.

"I know... But I'm not ready for them to know... I'm not ready for him to know..." Riku said, breathing heavily now.

"Well, if you want to keep it a secret, you'll have to find a better way to bandage yourself. If you keep bleeding like that it won't stay secret for long."

Riku looked at The King strangely a second, why was he referring to his injury now? Was that what he meant all along? Maybe... He didn't know after all. "I... I'll take care of it", he said.

Riku rested his hand over his heart lightly. Darkness began to form, first around his hand, and then around his whole body. He concentrated all of it on his wound, and bundled it up there, blocking the flow.

He pulled his hand away from his chest, and his black glove was stained red. He let his hand drop to his side. Most of his strength gone, and he allowed his blood to drip to the ground slowly.

The King looked at him uneasily. "That won't hold forever you know", he said. "It's just a temporary solution. Once it comes undone, there isn't any telling if you could stop it again."

"Then we better find a way to stop that from happening", Riku replied simply.

The two stood there a moment not saying anything. "I expect to see you back at the Gummy ship before tomorrow morning", The King said as he turned to leave.

"Ok", Riku said as he turned back to the water.

"And Riku…" The King said; still walking away. "They will want to know how you helped Sora…"

Above ground in the Third District, Sora was doing his best to fend off the onslaught of Heartless that had appeared in his venture to find Riku. Neoshadows surrounded the trio, and their strength was greatly diminished. However, for the lack of strength from Donald and Goofy, Sora pushed himself that much harder to pick up the slack. For every two Heartless they defeated, Sora took ten.

Despite his efforts, the Heartless showed no signs of stopping. Wave after wave, they continued to attack the boy. He noticed out of the corner of his eye Donald and Goofy had both reached their limit as they collapsed from exhaustion. Neoshadows began to close in on them to finish the job.

"NO!" Sora shouted as he ran toward his friends. No Heartless in his path was spared as he entered a state of rage. He had no strength left in him for any special techniques, but his mind was far from a place where he could concentrate enough to use them anyway. All he cold think about was pushing all the darkness away with the light of his heart, the light he knew would never diminish the slightest bit no matter how tired he grew.

His body was merely an extension of this light, and as long as his light didn't fade neither would he. His mind was hardly on battle, he moved as if possessed. His thoughts raced, would Donald and Goofy be okay? Was everyone else holding up alright? He had to protect them. He had to protect them all. And Riku... He had to find Riku, he HAD to...

Sora stopped suddenly as he noticed he had become very cold; the sensation snapped him back to reality. He looked around him, there were no Heartless. It was then he noticed why he was cold; it was raining now, and dark. How long had he been standing there?

He looked around quickly and saw Donald and Goofy sprawled on the ground. They were still unconscious, but no worse for the wear than normal. He reached in his pocket and administered a Hi-Potion to each of them. Without waiting for them to wake up, Sora continued onward.

"I won't stop until I find you again Riku", Sora said, only half aware of uttering the words.

Riku knelt by the water's edge again. He cupped his hands together and dipped them in the freezing water. He splashed the frigid water against his face so no one would know he had been crying again.

He stared into the water's reflecting surface as The King's words flashed through his mind again. Though he was certain King Mickey meant his wounds when he was talking to him a while ago, he couldn't help but find a double meaning with them. He had even told Riku to think of something to tell people about Sora's recovery. If The King did really mean it that way, then what did that mean about himself?

"Only a temporary solution", he said emptily. If that was true, then they were all going to find out sooner or later. Sora would find out... "I... Just can't let that happen. Not yet."

Riku closed his eyes as The King's words continued to barrage his mind with thoughts that terrorized him. Though he was hardly comfortable, he relaxed himself so much he was almost asleep. Escape from reality into dreams... Dreams about Sora... But you have to wake up; to the reality that isn't what you wanted.

He couldn't even hear as the battle torn Sora entered the room from the secret entrance. And he didn't turn to his friend as the boy walked closer to Riku either. He only finally snapped to attention when Sora managed to say, "Riku..."

Riku looked across the room at the younger boy, surprised. He quickly noticed Sora was beaten horribly, he had wounds all over his body that he had, for some reason, not taken the time to heal. His tattered clothes clung to his wet body; it must have been raining...

Sora made a move to step forward, but began to sway to the side. He could hardly keep his balance anymore. Riku stepped forward and took hold of the younger boy.

"What were you thinking?" he asked Sora. "I thought The King might at least tell everyone I was alright..."

"Riku, why did you do that?" Sora asked his friend. "I was so worried."

"You're a mess", Riku replied as he dug through his pockets for a Potion. "You should have--"

"I was worried Riku!" Sora said as he rested his head on the older boy's shoulder. "It took me so long to find you, just... Don't run off again ok? Please. Just... Don't leave me..."

Riku didn't know how to respond at first. He knew how he so desperately wanted to take Sora's words the wrong way, but Sora didn't mean it like that... That's why it was so hard for him to just say, "Ok... I promise..."

As the two boys left the cave, a cloaked figure emerged from the shadows that had concealed him so well. "It's just as you predicted", he said aloud. "Things are falling into place perfectly. It won't be much longer before it all spills over."

"Good", a voice from nowhere said. "Once that happens we will have our chance. If we seize that opportunity, nothing can stand in our way."

The Unknown walked over to where the boys had been standing. In Sora's current state of distress he hadn't noticed all the spots of blood on the ground, but this detail was not overlooked by The Unknown. "I apologize master, I may have been too eager to spill the boy's blood", The Unknown said.

"Pay no attention to that, his body will hold together long enough. Once he has completed his role he is no longer needed", the voice said. "Continue monitoring them for now. Let me know the instant there is any kind of development."

"It will be so", The Unknown said as he faded into darkness.

The two boys in question were quiet now as they walked through Traverse Town to the gummy ship. Sora looked to Riku, who had an intense look on his face. It was as though his friend was concentrating deeply on something. Sora wondered if he was angry at him for going on a rampage looking for him. All thoughts about how his injury had been healed had gone flying out of his head some time ago; now he was just concerned about Riku.

Riku noticed Sora staring at him with his questioning blue eyes. "Don't worry Sora", he said, sensing Sora's concern. "I just have some things I'm trying to sort out."

"Mnnn... Like what?" Sora asked.

Of course Riku couldn't answer truthfully. "Well that Unknown for one", he answered.

"Well, we won't be able to find out until we meet him again. It's just a matter of time though... ... Hey, why are you wearing an Unknown jacket again?" he asked Riku, just now noticing Riku's clothes.

"Do I need a reason?" Riku said slightly apprehensively. Sora was asking too many questions. Even though Riku wasn't really angry with him, he couldn't afford to keep this up and accidentally say something. He regretted taking the harsh tone when he saw Sora recoil a little at his reaction.

Sora said, "Sorry... I didn't mean to--"

"No no, it's alright", Riku said. "I didn't mean to snap at you, I'm just... I dunno..."

"Are you ok Riku?" Sora said. He could see right through Riku's defenses; he knew something was wrong.

Riku could also tell this. He knew Sora would figure things out sooner or later, about everything. He was strangely relaxed though. Instead of lying or getting exasperated again, he looked at Sora with his soft teal eyes that pierced through Sora to his heart and said, "I don't want to talk about it right now, but I'll tell you later. Ok?"

"Alright..." Sora said, still a little worried.

Riku looked at the younger boy a minute, and then he stopped walking for seemingly no reason. Sora noticed and turned around, about to ask why. Riku moved over to him and grabbed one of his ears and tugged it playfully.

"Ow! Cut that out!" Sora exclaimed, though he was smiling now.

Heheh. That's more like it", Riku said, also smiling. "I want to see more of your smile Sora. No more being sad okay?"

"Alright, I'll try", Sora said, beaming one of his biggest smiles possible for Riku.

"Don't worry about anything Sora. People like you more when you're your normal loud, obnoxious, happy self", Riku said as he let go of Sora's ear.

"Heeey, what was that for?" Sora said in his usual loud, obnoxious, happy voice.

Riku just smiled, really smiled. Sora could tell he wasn't pretending to be ok now. "We should get back before they start to worry", he said.

"Alright", Sora replied cheerily.

The two began walking again, and Riku moved closer to Sora. Without glancing at the younger boy, Riku took Sora's hand in his and kept walking. Sora looked at his hand for a second, and then up at Riku.

Riku turned his attention to Sora for just a second. "Does this feel too weird or something?" he asked, wondering if this was a bad idea. It certainly wasn't what two normal boys would do, but it was a far cry from what he really wanted to do...

"N-no, it's fine. Just uh..." Sora stammered, not knowing quite how to respond.

"Do you want me to stop?" Riku asked.

Sora was blushing lightly now. "... It's ok..." he said.

"Alright, it's no big deal really", Riku replied. "No one else will see anyway, promise." Riku moved his fingers so they intertwined with Sora's and gave his hand a slight squeeze.

"Uh huh..." Sora said, staring intently at his feet now as they walked together.

Riku's words sadly, were not true. Someone was watching them, even now. The Unknown's cloak fluttered slightly in the cool breeze that swept over the roof tops. Someone was always watching them.

There you have it, another chapter finally! Also...

IMPORTANT NOTICE! (If you already read my warning of spoilers at the beginning of Chapter 1 skip this)

As of the writing of this chapter, the release date of Kingdom Hearts 2 is close at hand. For my own purposes, I have read much about the story and specifically some of the characters (Riku mainly). Yes yes I know, shame shame. I needed the information for my own reasons though.

Now... What this means is that I know for a fact a lot of information in my fanfic has now been rendered inaccurate. In fact, so much so that it would be impossible to make it completely accurate without drastically editing plot lines, which I have no intention of doing.

This fanfic is meant to happen AFTER Kingdom Hearts 2 (don't ask why... I don't need a reason...). But it is my story, and as such no it will not synch up with the real one. If I could I would make it fit in with the real story better, which was my intention from the start. There was just so little info on Kingdom Hearts 2 when I started writing this, and specifically Riku (which is where most of the inaccuracies are).

So, I have decided to edit my fanfic. These changes will be minor, and they will NOT change any drastic plot points (or any at all most likely). And also, only SOME chapters have been edited. Several of them did not require any changes.

This does mean that there WILL BE SPOILERS! Most of them have to do with Riku. If you don't like that then stop reading until you play Kingdom Hearts 2! I will not spoil ANYTHING significant from Kingdom Hearts 2 (another reason I will not drastically edit my fanfic, it would include gigantic spoilers). The spoilers I mention will be MINOR! They are still spoilers though and you deserve enough warning. The things I put in will be very minor changes and will not ruin your Kingdom Hearts 2 gaming experience. You may not want to know some of these things so either don't re-read old chapters or don't be upset if you do that and then find out something you don't want to know. Most of the spoilers will have to do with Riku, since his role is so mysterious. Keep in mind also that all upcoming chapters are subject to contain minor spoilers (though it's unlikely I will produce any before Kingdom Hearts 2 comes out anyway).

You have all, however, been warned. 


End file.
